Back to the Future: Turning Points
Deuteronomy 6:1-25
Sermon Objective: This sermon was given as part of a congregational celebration for paying off all mortgages and debts.
Supporting Scripture: Exodus 19:6, John 17:20-26;
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.
20 In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" 21 tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. 24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."
There are episodes in life that serve as “turning points.” You know when these arrive that things have changed in a significant way and life will never be quite the same again. They often disrupt or alter the normal routine. Unfortunately some of these turning points are negative … even heartbreaking. Others however are welcomed and offer a new lease or a new breadth to life that did not exist before hand. Some can be anticipated … even planned for; while others catch us unaware and flat footed.
Institutions have turning points too. They do not always get the same attention but they are real none-the-less. The turning point may come through something as significant as a relocation, or a buyout or with something as subtle as personnel change or product enhancement.
Nations (peoples) have turning points too. Sometimes the very complexity of being a nation means that turning points are not always as obvious until enough time has passed for the event to become history. But others are obvious, like a world war, a depression, or a national catastrophe.
Israel was at a turning point when they were given the words of Deuteronomy 6. YHWH could see the forks in the road and knew that their decisions at these forks would determine their paths. Being a God of love He assigns Holy men to write words of direction and wisdom to guide the nation. If they choose to follow His Words they will prosper; if not … they face hard times ahead.
A local church also has turning points. We can identify with all three of the metaphors mentioned, individual, institution, and nation (peoples); but regardless of how you choose to view us today you certainly understand that the local church also has turning points.
Those turning points come in a variety of ways don’t they? Maybe it is a relocation. Maybe it is a fire. Maybe it is a personnel change. Maybe it is an influx of new people. Maybe it is a spiritual renewal. But, turning points come within the life of a church. And, like forks in the road, our Lord waits to see what we choose to do and whether we will look to Him and His Word for guidance and direction or whether we will continue with business as usual in our own energy. The choice we make at such times goes far in determining whether we will prosper as the people of God or fall on hard times.
Deuteronomy 6, therefore has guidance for us today. We often think of Deuteronomy 6 as a passage addressing the family but it is not. It is addressing the nation. It is about a nation’s future direction. There are words of encouragement that we can extract from the story … that we can make our story.
The backdrop of Deuteronomy is, in fact, the future. The people have embarked on a journey and are on the doorstep of a new life in a Promised Land (Dt. 1:1). This new life, as a nation, is a gift from God. Let’s see what it entails and what it can say to us.
GOD IS GIVING THEM A HOME
One of the gifts that YHWH was offering Israel was a “home” … a place to call their own. Chapter 6 gives a beautiful description of the work God has done in advance for Israel (i.e. vv. 10-12). A home implies an extended future. But the objective is not to just sit back and relax once they have taken up residence! Claiming the land as their home means becoming stewards of it and managing it for God’s glory.
Is the Naz your home? I trust that it is. I hope you claim it as “your church.” That is God’s design. God intended every believer to be part of a local fellowship and for that fellowship to be “home.” But bear in mind, claiming the Naz as a home brings responsibility and stewardship. You do yourself a disservice when you are not involved and participating. You do the other members of the household a disservice too.
Turning points are a great time to change your status … to take up residence and become part of the family in a more intimate way. There are ways to do this:
> Baptism is a Biblical response to salvation and has been the typical way to formally “enter the life of the body” since the early days of the Church.
> Membership offers a sense of belonging that otherwise is missing.
> Ministry is essential to a sense of belonging. Few things, if any, give one a sense of ownership and “home” like participating in God’s work alongside your brothers and sisters. Utilizing the spiritual gifts God has given you to enrich the body or brings others to faith is a wonderful way to garner a sense of “home.”
GOD IS GIVING THEM A MISSION
When YHWH gives Israel the Promised Land God is giving them a mission … marching orders. There is a divine expectation that comes with the land. A mission implies a ministry.
One of those “missional ministries” is directly linked to passing the faith on to the generations to come. We often look at this as if the end result is children who know God. But that is faulty reasoning; the objective if to share God’s goodness and grace to all humankind for all generations.
Exodus 19:6 says; you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.
It only takes a generation or two to forget God before a whole society begins to suffer. This is taught very clearly in the book of Judges.
The primary purpose for the local Church is to take the Gospel to those who do not know Christ’s love and deliverance.
Notice I said we take the Gospel to them … not that we let them come here and find the Gospel. One of the “glitches” that led to Israel’s national downfall was their failure to see themselves as missionaries. They kept their focus inward which results in using their energy for the wrong purposes. They were more worried about their standing in the region than they were God’s glory. As a result, things like, having a King, and national prominence motivated them. As a result they became a divide nation quite literally. If they had kept God’s mission as their mission they could have avoided this.
When churches focus inward they too begin to become concerned about the wrong things. It often results divisions and tensions and squabbling over things that really don’t matter. Oh, we think they matter, but they really don’t.
I have a friend who is creating a list of silly reasons that churches have split. That list included things like:
> Facial hair on the pastor
> Rooms with kitchens attached to the worship center.
> Choices of Christmas music.
> Wearing jewelry (including wedding rings)
Everyone loses; most of all the lost who spend eternity in Hell because we couldn’t get past some silly difference. When a church is looking outward rather than inward many of these pitfalls are avoided. When a church is busy doing the work of the One who gave them life they do not have time for some of these silly things.
GOD IS GIVING THEM AN IDENTITY
When God’s people love Him with their whole being it is noticeable. It gives them a clear identity. That identity is corporate. This passage is not about INDIVIDUAL Hebrews loving and obeying God … it is about a collective love … a collective identity.
Real love for God is really evidenced in community.
> Your participation in the body is an indication of your connectedness to God.
> Your participation in the body is about more than just you. It shows that you understand:
* The value God places on relationships
* God’s plan of reaching the next generation and the lost of our generation
People will come to Christ in droves once they begin to feel loved and welcomed.
People will come to the Naz in droves when they begin to feel loved and welcomed.
WRAP-UP
For too long the local church has worked from a defective understanding of the Gospel. We have want people to come to us rather than go to them. WE WANT PEOPLE TO SHOW THEY ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THE GOSPEL BEFORE WE EMBRACE THEM RATHER THAN SHOWING THEM THE GOSPLE IS SERIOUS ABOUT THEM BY FIRST EMBRACING THEM IN LOVE!
For some the pattern has always been “BELIEVE – BEHAVE – BELONG”
But the Gospel’s understanding differs from this: it is “BELONG – BELIEVE – BEHAVE”.
We may very well be at a turning point at the Naz. An exciting one! There is no fear here just opportunity. And, as we
[1] Begin to live and offer people a home (a sense of belonging and a future with us)
[2] Acknowledge the mission and purpose (and look outward to take Christ to the community)
[3] Rally around loving God.
A cycle will be set in motion that bodes well for the lost and for “the family” well into the future.
He Who Has Ears to Hear
Let Him Hear
This Sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
Children’s Sermon
“If Leaves Could Talk”
Text: Psalm 19:1
Props: A bag of autumn leaves or a picture of autumn leaves
Sermon Objective: Jesus uses his creation as a way to communicate Himself to the world. God uses other things to communicate to us as well.
Hello everyone! I have been looking forward to being with you this morning!
I have something in the treasure box to show you. That’s right … it is full of Autumn leaves! Aren’t the colors beautiful?!
One of the reasons I love walking in the woods during the fall is the leaves. Their colors can be striking and it can be very refreshing to the spirit. I have also discovered something else about leaves. It goes back to a verse in Psalms 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
I have discovered that God can “talk” to me through things like leaves. No! It is a not a real voice. But God can remind me of some very important truths about him as I look at leaves.
Every year God replenishes the leaves on a tree. Every year is gives us colors that are beautiful and exhilarating. Every year he lets the leaves fall to the ground and decompose in order to nourish the forest floor.
My point is that God is always talking care of His world in quiet ways that we might miss. God is also always giving us evidence that He is with us when He does this too!
For me … it is the way God “whispers” his presence to me in a reassuring manner.
I have discovered that if I will listen closely and watch carefully that God will show me His love and presence in a lot of surprising ways!
For example … I hold in my hand what is called “A Discharge of Mortgage.” That that is a fancy term that you have probably never heard of but when it means is that the bank says that we no longer have to pay anything for our church … that we now own it all by ourselves!
Now, as exciting as that it to your mommy and daddy it also “whispers” something to us from God too. It tells us that God has been faithful to us and that God has plans for us here at the Naz. It tells us that God has confidence in us as a people!
I want to encourage you to start looking and listening to the whisper of God and he takes things like leaves and pieces of paper and gives you a warm feeling of love and acceptance okay?
Let’s pray together.
This Children’s Sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
