When The Water Rises

Announcements

Nursery for Sunday school

Fantasy League next Sunday at 630

Flyers for Women’s Retreat 10/14-16 and Weekend to Remember 10/28-30

Deacon Commission/Dave thank you

In Acts 6 as the church was new, and growing, we read about the first complaint. In this case there were a group of widows overlooked along racial lines. Jesus’ disciples, who now led the church called the rest and recognized something that has been important to the church of Jesus ever since.

They couldn’t do everything. The need was real, urgent, and yet, the calling of this new church was to preach the word, to pray, to reach the lost and they knew if they put their hands and heads to even these essential things, the mission would suffer.

So they called on the church to identify a group of people who could take on this task. But not just anyone.

They were people who were a part of the Hellenistic Jewish community that was suffering, so they were equipped with keen understanding of the issues.

They were men of good reputation, full of the Spirit, and wisdom.

They then took this task that in this moment was so essential.

Churches have now for centuries appointed deacons, the word means “one who serves” to help move the mission forward by committing to handling the essential tasks that would take the eyes of the leadership off the ultimate mission.

Every church does this differently, as the tasks and needs are different. We do not have Hellenistic Jewish widows being neglected…instead we have facilities, we have finances, we have people with needs and challenges that need to be met.

This morning we are pleased to be commissioning Donavon Mattern into this role at HCC. He was nominated, proved to be of good reputation, and known to be filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom.

And so like the disciples I want to ask our elders and deacons who are present to come lay hands on Donavon and pray.

Pray

In Acts 6:7, following the commissioning of these first deacons, we read, “So the word of God spread, the disciples increased greatly in number and large groups of priests became obedient to the faith.”

May it be so here.

While these are up here, I have one more announcement. For about 6 years, Dave Hall has served faithfully and fruitfully as one of our elder board. He came on the board and was a part of the hiring process for myself and Caleb.

He walked through all of my growing pains as a leader, teaching me how to give and receive grace in greater measure.

He faithfully walked alongside people and families struggling with connection, with questions, and shame with love and acceptance in imitation of his lord.

He helped lead us through the pandemic years and used his knowledge of technology to help a disconnected church stay connected, setting up systems that now amplify and extend the ministry of HCC.

Dave has come to a place where he is recognizing a need to step back from the eldership so he can renew his focus on his family and see what other ministry God has for him.

The elders and deacons of HCC thank you Dave for all you have brought, your faithfulness to Jesus and your compassion for your fellows in service.

As we did with Donavon, I’ll ask the elders and deacons to lay their hands on you as we commission you for the calling before you.

Pray

Kids up

Sermon

Oops: People often see and hear safety warnings, how to rightly use something, etc and don’t follow it to their own harm.

Not long ago I picked up a immersion heater that we could use in our pool and in our baptistry so poor Caleb doesn’t turn blue again.

I laughed at some of the warnings included. Like not testing the heat by touching the element when it was on. Or, given that it’s selling point was that it can boil water in a 5 gallon bucket in minutes…don’t test the water right around the heater with your hand.

We’ve all read warnings that have made us laugh. but behind the laughter is the knowledge that someone did something that made that warning necessary.

The stroller that carries the warning to remove the child before you fold it up. “Oh…before....”

The lid of any disposable coffee cup which will warn you that contents may be hot.

On a vanishing ink marker, “Not intended for checks or legal documents...” I bet that was a funny story.

And then there was the story of the city family that took a camping trip to Yellowstone. They went to the local sporting goods store to pick up the last minute things the camping website said they would need, including bear spray.

One employee overheard one of the parents say to the other, “So do we spray this directly on the kids, or just their clothes?”

Though the quick reactions of the employee saved those kids from an…interesting experience, it’s worth noting that back in May the Oklahoma department of wildlife felt the need to tweet:

“Listen, bear spray DOES NOT work like bug spray. We would like to not have to say that again.”

This despite the warnings on the cans which inlcude things like:

Not for use on humans.

May cause irreversible eye damage

And other cheerful notes.

The problem isn’t the instructions. The problem, the reason these warnings keep getting more hysterical is our failure to read them…or…our failure to follow them.

How many times have we taken actions that can only lead to the assumption that somewhere in our inner being we though we knew better than the people who made the product…or that those warnings were only for people who weren’t as smart as we were…so they don’t apply to us.

Ugh: Reading the Bible and doing religious things is like reading a warning label or directions. But believing is not following. (even demons…James faith without works)

If this is a problem when it comes to folding babies into strollers…handy for transportation, I’ll admit…how much more are we likely to do this when it comes to matters of faith?

The same humanity that needs to know not to use a hair dryer in the shower is probably going to struggle with the things we can’t see.

We have so little control over our brains sometimes. I mean, right now, do not think about anything that’s the color orange. Ok, now don’t think about purple.

Those are just a good reminders as we begin football season. Green is much better.

But in all seriousness, as soon as the idea of a color was in your head, how many of you can say you didn’t think of something?

Part of the grand narrative of scripture is revealing this tendency to us. This is why we need a savior, why God tells his people to meditate on his word, to write it on doorposts and attach it to your hands…because we are quick to forget.

The book of James has this as a primary topic addressing the practical nature of our faith and the need to not just hear it.

James 1:22 “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

He goes on to point out that it is at the doing that the faith that saves is proved

James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.”

Then he engages the argument that might come up:

James 2:18-19 “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.”

The demons read the warning labels. They know the truth of God’s existence, holiness, and power…that knowledge isn’t helpful because they have read the labels but they aren’t following the directions.

They are just out there spraying bear spray on their arms through a cloud of tears, “I can’t see…but at least the bear won’t get me!”

Aha: Jesus has made his points. This is his altar call, and he tells a simple parable. The one who hears and does, vs the one who hears and doesn’t. (text here)

Jesus is now finishing the sermon on the mount. He has made his points,

he has told us what the blessed life looks like.

He has showed us that we need a righteousness that beyond our efforts

That our motives matter

That the calling for a follower of Jesus is high. Love your enemies, go the second mile, give and pray without expectation of public acclaim, but with trust in God for the reward

That our lives are not what we have, but what God gives

That we are not in a position to judge, but are called to lay ourselves under the eyes and (even more important) grace of Jesus.

And as we looked at last week the life of faith will bear fruit. The one who knows Jesus will have evidence. Not the miraculous, but the good fruit of a life laid down for God and others.

Jesus made these points well. He preached a powerful sermon. Here’s the altar call. The moment of decision for the listeners and for us.

Because Jesus gave us the warning label

He gave us the instructions for use

But like the person who prompted Silly Putty to add the warning, “do not use as ear plugs” we are likely to ignore, diminish, or forget.

Jesus loves us too much to let that happen without a fight. And so he makes his plea, his altar call, a clear description of what is to be done with these words we have studies for the last three months. And here it is.

Matthew 7:24-27

““Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.””

Whee: Jesus is calling you to follow (use disciple calling moments)

The House on the Rock

The one who hears these words of mine AND acts on them will be like a wise man who build is house on the rock. Storms and wind pounded the walls but the house stood.

Let’s examine this.

What are the consequences of a house built on rock? That is: Of the life built not on hearing these words…but acting on them?

I want you to consider 3 observations on this, though there certainly could be more. #1, it...

Gives Clarity of Purpose

We are living through what is being called the great resignation. As I go throughout Vancouver and Battle Ground I see it. Help Wanted signs everywhere, even signs apologizing in advance for a lower level of service, or longer wait time because of understaffing.

Even in ministry circles, a huge number of pastors, youth pastors, and others are stepping away to do something new.

Why?

The issues are many, but it seems that the COVID pandemic was at least the trigger.

If life is uncertain, our instinct is to make it matter.

When we are comfortable, we can put up with something less, but discomfort gets us asking questions.

Does what I do matter? Do I matter?

And so some will go from job to job searching for meaning, purpose, connection.

As evidence, I would point you toward the restaurant Beaches. Even shortly after the pandemic, they were almost fully staffed and when Monica and I went there shortly after things opened up, we were so impressed we had to ask “WHY?”

Connection - They do a mental and physical wellness check at the start of every shift. They invest in relational activity for staff.

Purpose - They give back and include their staff in it.

I’m sure its not perfect, but it shows that purpose matters

So why do I say building your life by putting these words in action provides purpose?

Let’s look back:

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

There are two examples right from the beginning.

If you are putting the words into action, you can’t do these accidentally.

MERCY is an action word. Peacemaking takes intention.

The whole list of beatitudes is a summary of becoming a specific kind of human.

If we keep going, we see Jesus double down on not giving advice, not so much telling us who we are, but rather what we are for. Which is what we really want to know

Matthew 5:13-14

““You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”

We have a call to be a transforming presence in this world. BRINGING THE KINGDOM INTO PEOPLE’s LIVES!

Let’s get clear

This is a personal call.

This is a call to personal engagement.

There is far more power in actively loving people to bring kingdom life than in acquiring power.

This is why I will always advocate for kindness in any conversation on politics. Because this nation, any nation is a blip in eternity. Power in this world is fleeting and usually corrosive.

Unhappy with something or someone? Ask how you can serve them. Don’t like the school system? There is more power for change in serving than in protesting.

Your purpose is to be salt and light.

DO YOU MAKE life better or bitter by your presence? That’s faith in action that makes the difference. A life that has clarity in purpose will be able to consistently impact the world...

And you can quit chasing meaning.

The alternative is a faith that is based on experience and emotion. “Does this make me happy? Did I feel God?

This leaves us chasing a moving target

It also leaves the church disjointed as we all have totally different experiences and emotions.

If those are what we build our life on…they change. They don’t give us solid footing.

If instead we allow those things to be shaped by a common foundation, the words and life of Jesus, then those emotions, and those experiences become informative and helpful, while maintaining clear purpose for our lives and unity in the mission of the church.

Having clarity of purpose matters. A life built on the rock also...

Gives Peace in This Life

How important is this? Any study on the topic of stress, anxiety, or guilt will show a year over year increase in those things in this country. We have more leisure than any generation and more stress…something went wrong! Leisure must not equal peace...

WHat does?

When we build our lives upon these words, upon the life and work of Jesus something amazing happens. We get to know him.

When you know God you learn some amazing things.

Let’s look back again:

Matthew 6:7-8 “When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.”

You know what i know because I know Jesus?

I know God knows my needs. And I know he cares. In a broken world filled with sin, sickness, selfishness, death…as long as we are here, those hurts will be here too.

God knows the needs that are deeper. He knows how to meet us in the midst of our pain. He gives all we need to know him in our hurt. Going back to purpose…he invites us to be his messengers and suppliers of that care to others who have need.

Pastor Tim Keller, who is currently battling cancer, said it well: “If we knew what God knows, we would ask exactly for what he gives.”

He tells us to turn our eyes from the valuables this world cherishes, money, health, power and invest in the kingdom where every investment is guaranteed. Then:

Matthew 6:25-27 ““Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

vs anxiety, guilt, fear

We can chase security, comfort, control, peace, and when it we finally get our hands on some, we learn that it isn’t all we needed…and so we get anxious.

We strive, we work, we compromise what really matters in order to try to get what we think we need.

Whether that’s money, intimacy, power…But when we compromise what is true, it always leads to shame, guilt, far more pain than the pleasure we were chasing.

What a change when we surrender into the loving arms of our father. Trusting even the pain is a gift that is bringing us closer to what matters most.

One of my favorite scriptures is from 2 Corinthians as Paul reflects on a thorn in his side. He prayed for God to remove it, to end the suffering three times and heard instead from the Lord:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

It clarifies our purpose, gives peace, and best of all:

Gives Hope for Eternity

Matthew 7:13 ““Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.”

When our lives are built on the rock of Jesus, our hope and confidence in our salvation will increase exponentially.

When you are not just hearing but doing the words Jesus has spoken, you start to see the Kingdom in life. The more we see the kingdom here, the easier it is to believe it is waiting for us when we cross the threshold of death.

We learn to see the narrow gate with clarity and approach it with enthusiasm.

I was blessed to hear evangelist Luis Palau speak shortly before his passing. He knew his cancer was killing him. He shared with us that since the diagnosis, he had been focusing his study on eternity. “I want to know as much as I can about it before I get there”

You could see in his face, in his step, in his joy through the pain a grace that comes with confidence in hope.

Paul says in Philippians 3 -

Philippians 3:7-11 “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.”

Paul says I throw everything else away, the only thing of value, the one thing that really matters is knowing Jesus, gaining more of him, having a righteousness that is born out of faith in him, and then I can know the power of resurrection.

In experiencing resurrection here, he became more confident in the resurrection beyond.

Yea: The sand is attractive. The beach is nice. But it’s not where you build a life. Jesus has given us the how to manual, he’s posted the warnings, he’s told you what kind of life is blessed, you’ve heard it, you’ve seen it, you’ve read it…If you build on what feels nice, experiences, power, influence, wealth, control, politics, career, sports, health, intellect, leisure…it’s sand.

The beach is attractive. I like to hang out there. But the most amazing sand castles get swept away. If not by the tide, then by the rain. A house build on anything less than a solid foundation will crack and sooner than later will crumble under its own weight.

Jesus wants you to build your life on what matters because he loves you.

You have seen the instructions, read the warning labels.

Now you have a choice.

You can willfully ignore it.

You can say, no. I will not go the second mile, I will not turn the other cheek. God is wrong on this one. That kind of life isn’t for me.

You can let it slide by apathetically.

Oh, I agree with all of that…and now I will casually forget about it until the next time someone brings it up and then I’ll realize I missed out.

Or you can dig into these words, and as much as you understand them, build a life on them. And allow Jesus to be Lord and find you have built a life on a foundation that will never fail.

Worship team up

The last lines of chapter 7 give us the response of the crowd.

Matthew 7:28-29 “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.”

The crowd was astonished. The scribes were careful to only give opinions on God’s word. Much like I can tell you something Monica told me, and I can tell you what I think she meant…but no matter how much I know her, I don’t have the right to discern her words with the authority she could.

If she says, “that’s not what I meant” I would be a fool to argue. I just can’t know.

Jesus taught as though the words were his. He had authority to define and clarify because God’s word is his word. He did not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil.

We have a simple choice. Do we build on our own sand or his rock.

Next week we move on from the sermon on the mount, and take a break from our series on the life of Jesus, but I would encourage you to keep digging in here.

Our digital church library has a video study with Matt Chandler on the beatitudes that is a great place to start.

(If you haven’t set up access to RNM, the bulletin gives instructions)

the stand. if all this is true…if Jesus…the what can we say or do but offer ourselves heart and soul to him. If you’re comfortable, stand, lift your hands in abandon and praise. Sing it as if it’s true.

we have a foundation that is worth building upon.