Title: Sermon Helps for January/February 2007
Author: Daron Lindemann
Last saved by: Barb Bartz

Sermon Helps for May/June 2007

Easter 6

The Greek god, Zeus, was supposedly the king of the gods and a father to many of them. Legend had it that the Greek god, Hermes, was born in a cave on Mt. Cylene. He is the speedy messenger of the gods and is often depicted wearing winged sandals and hat. The hopes of Paul and Barnabus that the people in Lystra would forsake their gods for the true God were ripped away as much as their tunics were ripped down the front of their chests when they saw the priest of Zeus coming to offer sacrifices. “Why are you doing this?” they protest. “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God.” Paul and Barnabus don’t even give Zeus and Hermes and the other mythological figures of the Greek religion the honor of being called “gods,” but instead call them “things.” Inanimate objects like stones, wood chips, raindrops, or figments of the imagination. They might look good and make you feel good, but they don’t do any good. They’re worthless. Compare them to the “living God.”

God “made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them” with his creative powers. Any wood is created by God and then people carve an idol out of it. Any stone is created by God and then people chisel an image from it. Any element of nature, whether animal or planet, is created by God and mythological beings are represented by it. Any imaginative power of the human mind is created by God and then people engineer false gods with it. So, Paul argues, why go to what is created for help when you can get help from its Creator? This is a warning not just aimed at 1^st century Romans but also 21^st century Christians! Martin Luther explains that our god is that to which we think of turning first for help. Can you honestly say that you turned to God for help first when you read the e-mail that ruined your day, when you sensed you were starting to feel depressed again, when your hormones teased you to do what you didn’t want to, or when it was time to pass out accolades for your achievement? Think how cheated God must feel when we choose the nosebleed seats other gods give us instead of the front row seats only the true God offers. As a matter of fact, the Bible says he gets jealous. He watches us flirt with false gods and something in our Maker and Redeemer clicks, making him wish we were giving him our attention instead. After God found his special people Israel dancing around the golden calf he said, “They made me jealous by what is no god” (Deuteronomy 32:21). God so deeply desires your attention and awe. God so desperately dreams of your commitment and companionship. Therefore he will not let false gods have the upper hand. 

Sermon thoughts for Easter season and Fathers’ Day

From the sermon “Approval from This Father” posted online at www.wels.net/ptw 

There’s something terrifying about a father, and I don’t mean the bad kind. I mean the good kind. I mean fathers who are dependable and respectable and responsible. Fathers who are loving and caring and nurturing. Fathers who are good role models and good providers. There is something terrifying about a good father; especially about a good father. A father can be terrifying because of the power he has over us. And fathers have power over us because of how badly we want their approval.

Pentecost

From the sermon “Pentecost Reverses Babel” posted online at www.wels.net/ptw 

This was an intervention of mercy. The LORD “came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.” There is humor in that line: they wanted to build a tower so big that everybody would notice them; the tower turned out to be so small that God had to come down to take a look at it. The LORD also “came down” because he wanted to view this thing fairly. He wanted to see for himself what was going on before he made a decision (God always uses language we can understand, even if some things weren’t necessary for him). “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them.” And so this was a pre-emptive strike of his mercy that “the LORD” confused their languages. He saved them from themselves, and from glorifying themselves over him.

Fast forward to Pentecost. The gift of tongues the Holy Spirit gave the first disciples showed them that the gospel of Jesus is meant for everybody in the world. The Spirit reminded them of his purpose for them, for which he left them behind: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19); “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Those 11 disciples, those 120 followers, hardly looked like a promising bunch to bring his gospel to the whole world. But the Spirit’s gift on Pentecost filled them with a common purpose. Now they knew why Jesus had left them behind and what they were here to do. If the people could have frustrated God’s purposes with their common language; think what God wants us to do with the “common language” of Jesus’ good news.

Pentecost happened on a Sunday, centuries ago. But Pentecost happens each new day, as the Spirit of God revitalizes us through the Word, redirects our focus to the common language of the gospel, and re-energizes us and equips us with his gifts to do his mission.

Holy Trinity

From the sermon “Extreme Makeover – Soul Edition” posted online at www.wels.net/ptw 

People spend agonizing hours wondering if God loves them. They look at their life for signs of God’s love, as though God’s love could be measured by health and wealth. People look within themselves to determine whether God loves them, as though God’s love depends on how you feel about it? Think about that!  Does a certain amount of happiness make God’s love real? Can you make God stop loving you if you feel like he doesn’t? Life is a spiritual roller-coaster if you’re going to read God’s love in the events of your life or the emotions of your day. You can know God loves you, no matter what. Look at Jesus’ cross. God did that because he loves you. Because God did that, he’ll never stop loving you. Look at God’s Word, timeless truth answering contemporary hurts and fears. The Extreme Makeover – Soul Edition is the evidence that God loves you, totally.

Pentecost 2

How odd! The Da Vinci Code is an entirely made–up story of how early bishops suppressed the truth and invented the Bible. Every religious scholar who has read it says it is factually inaccurate, yet it is a wild best-seller. Yet churches that claim to have the truth and are willing to confess it may be dismissed as out of touch. God wants churches to be places where his truth is confessed.