Celebration Service May 18 2008

Jay R. sent me this email this week…
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can get going without pep pills,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
...Then You Are Probably The Family Dog
I think there is much to learn from a dog’s life
But that’s not my sermon this morning
although it applies

Today I begin a new sermon series entitled
Live Simply Love Generously Care Deeply Speak Kindly Leave the rest to God…
Let’s focus today on LIVING SIMPLY

Does anybody remember when I did a sermon series entitled From Burnout To Balance
you who just raised your hands are truly my favorites
Oh how we complicate life
But Jesus said…One thing is needed
In that famous story of Mary and Martha that we have turned to many times over
If you aren’t familiar visit Luke chapter 10

Donald S. Whitney wrote a book just for me
It’s entitled Simplify Your Spiritual Life
The subtitle: Spiritual Disciplines for the overwhelmed
Are you overwhelmed by the weight of the world?
I encourage you to check out this book
I sound like an infomercial for Navpress
But you know your pastor doesn’t just want to preach at you
I want to place tools for living the Christian life in your hands
That’s my job description from God’s word
To equip the saints…

Let’s face it – we live in a complex world. technology “improves” daily, and with it the pace increases.
Surrounded by driving forces, it is no small wonder that our spiritual lives take a hit. But if the weight of the world is hindering your walk with the LORD, maybe now’s the time to step back and evaluate.
Life on earth was less hectic in Jesus’ time. He faced incredible challenges and suffered agonizing trials, but there was simplicity in His relationship with His Father that we can emulate. And in that simplicity, we can realize our greatest fulfillment as believers. If your Bible study seems as tedious as filing your tax return and your prayer life as wearisome as trying to understand your phone bill, STOP
Take a deep breath
Let’s see how rewarding the simple Christian life can be…

A. W. Tozer said…Every age has its own characteristics, right now we are in an age of religious complexity…The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us…

Do more and more with less and less and do it faster and faster…this seems to be the management strategy in our profusely overloaded age…
But what would Jesus think?
Can you imagine him yelling at His lagging disciples because they were twenty minutes late for the prayer breakfast?
How would He respond if cell phones went off within the assembled crowds at the sermon on the mount?
Jesus loved people and he loved truth.
There was an unyielding simplicity about His approach.
He had little tolerance for clutter or complexity…
He would not be distracted from His mission…
If you hear nothing else today, hear this, maybe even write it down…Jesus simplicity was all about focus!
One thing is needed
Instead of an unsustainable perfection or an oppressive legalism Jesus calls us to a simple devotion that sets us free!

Because the world is growing more complex by the nanosecond…Almost everyone eventually feels the need to simplify…
For most, simplifying means nothing more than “doing less”
BUT simplifying is not so much about doing fewer things as it is about doing the right things.
And take that even further to doing them with the right motive.
Listen, when you set out to fulfill Jesus mandate in Matthew 22:37-40…Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it…You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commands hang all the law and prophets…
ANYONE devoted to loving God and people will lead a full and active life.
But such a life should also be more focused, emphasizing the right priorities…
As I’ve said before…doing a few things well

the apostle Paul pleads with the Corinthians in 2 Cor 11:3…But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ…
Think about that for a minute…
Not only can we learn from Paul’s urgency regarding complicating the gospel
But this simplicity thing takes us all the way back to the beginning…
When did life get complicated?
When sin entered the picture
God created us to live simply
and everyday satan steals that joy away from God’s people
with the complications of SIN

I don’t know about you, but When I hear 2 Cor 11: 3…don’t let your minds be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ… I can breathe again
Some of life’s goo rolls off my shoulders
His burden really is light
His yoke really is easy
Learn from Him
He is gentle
Jesus promises in Matthew 11:28…Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest
Breath in, Breath out
Let His Spirit comfort You, counsel you

We should expect part of true spirituality to exhaust us, for it exist not merely for our own edification, but to serve the glory and purposes of God. Jesus’ spiritual labors occasionally so fatigued Him that He could remain asleep in an open boat in the middle of a lake during a life-threatening storm in Luke 8…Likewise, the apostle Paul knew the depletion of inner resources that results from the willingness to “spend and be spent” for the sake of the souls of others…2 Cor 12:15
All aspects of externalized spirituality – serving people’s needs, doing good works, taking the gospel to the spiritually lost, working in church ministries – expend the reserves of both body and soul.
There’s a problem, though, when the inflow of spiritual renewal doesn’t replenish the outflow of spiritual ministry!

The greatest example of replenishment is found in Psalm 1…Blessed is the man…
Not just reading of God’s word but meditating delighting then you’re the tree…

In many ways we are doing more than ever before for our spiritual life, but enjoying and profiting from it less…
Let me explain, even if we receive devotional reading sent daily by automatic email
Or read the Bible in several translations and study with the latest computer software
or experience worship-enhancing audio or video devotional experiences
It may seem the growing frustrations of hurry and complexity affect not only our personal spiritual disciplines but our congregational spiritual disciplines. There’s less time for church involvement…we’re so far behind in so many things that sometimes we wonder if what we receive from church is worth the overwhelming effort just to get there…
I’M NOT GIVING UP ON THE CHURCH!
Many areas of our lives are productive and prosperous, yet we’ve never felt so spiritually withered. Our calendars are full, but our souls are empty.
In many ways we are doing more than ever before for our spiritual life, but enjoying and profiting from it less…
The computer age might be somewhat to blame…
We are getting more and more disconnected…
Yet, don’t get me wrong sometimes the internet can bring us together…I hope my blogging connects…

Repeat after me…MEDITATE AND APPLY
Because of what we just learned from Psalm 1
Because we are doing more than ever before but profiting from it less
Living Simply when it comes to exposure to the WORD OF GOD demands absorption of the WORD OF GOD.
We profit most from our hearing, reading, studying, memorizing of Scripture when we MEDITATE AND APPLY.
We don’t want the water of the WORD to run off our minds and hearts like a hard rain on hard ground…
James 1:25 promises…But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does…
MEDITATE AND APPLY
So as you reflect on Scripture, do you perceive something God would have you…
Stop?
Start?
Believe?
Confess?
Pray about?
Thank Him For?
Communicate to someone?
We cannot expect the Bible to advance our transformation without meditation and application…
And oh how His word will simplify your life

Nothing will simplify our lives more than finding the will of God on a matter and doing it. And the best way to discover the will of God is to search the Word of God
and WHAT?
Meditate and apply
You want to know how to simplify?
Has it occurred to you to stop and ask…What does the Bible say about this?
Far more often than we do, Christians should ask this question…What does the Bible say about this?
And don’t just call your pastor for the answer
search for yourself
meditate and apply
The wisdom of frequently asking this question…What does the Bible say about this?...is obvious if we believe truths like theses…
Psalm 119:105…Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path
Matthew 4:4…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God…
2 Tim 3:16,17…All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work…
What’s the most significant issue in your life right now?
What major decision is before you?
Be sure to ask…What does the Bible say about this?
And as you turn to God’s word to meditate and apply, pray Psalm 119:18…Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law…

Holly and I have asked this question and this is why we are working to fill our home with orphans…
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 1:27

The unifying principle for all of life is found in 1 Cor 10:31..Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of god. This is the sun around which every spiritual practice, every decision, every prayer, every everything – including our efforts at simplifying should revolve…
So, when faced with choices about how to simplify, ask first…Which choice will bring the most glory to God? Simplify in such a way that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever…1Peter 4:11