Jul
25
Sunday Sermon: Empathy–the importance of “changing places”
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon, Teamwork | 1 Comment
(Sunday, 7/25/2010) In our “Sunday Sermon” series we take a break from the craziness of local politics and news to seek a more timeless & spiritual perspective. If that doesn’t interest you, you’ve got hundreds of other posts and thousands of comments to choose from.
Today’s thoughts are excerpted from a letter I received last month from a friend, Paul Rhoads, formerly assistant pastor at a church in Lakewood, currently with Christian Resource Ministries. In it he shares some truths that I think will hit home with most of us, but he definitely approaches the topic from a Christian perspective.
“Changing Places” is an attitude, or “posture” that my friend Paul believes is essential to “a life of on-going growth and renewal.” I’ll let him explain in his own words:
Changing Places means seeking to truly understand whatever situation I am in from the other’s point of view. There are three biblical convictions that undergird this posture:
We are incurably self-focused
Why? Because of our finiteness and our fallenness: We are limited by our own experience. We have only lived our own lives. We cannot know what it is really like to be someone else. We can imagine; we can try to put ourselves in their place, but our efforts are limited by that fact that we can only live our own life.
What makes matters worse is that we have been distorted by the disease called sin. Sin creates a centripetal force that pulls us into Read more
Jul
11
“Sunday Sermon:” The proper perspective on problems big and small
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon | 6 Comments
(7/11/2010, Los Alamitos) Our occasional “Sunday Sermons” are a glance away from current issues in Los Alamitos in an attempt to capture the much broader perspective of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. If you don’t want to read such a perspective, you have been warned.
Today’s “Sunday Sermon,” once again, is taken from one of the notes by Pastor Chuck Smith in The Word for Today Bible. I would love to post “Sunday [or Shabbat] Sermons” from other local pastors & rabbis. Please encourage yours to submit brief devotionals using the “contact us” button in the masthead.
David’s perspective:
From First Samuel 17:32 – 37 (English Standard Version):
And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
“Pastor Chuck’s” comments:
David saw this giant Goliath from the proper perspective. It wasn’t David against the giant, but the giant against the God David served. So it wasn’t “Poor me, I’m facing a giant,” but it was “Poor giant, he’s facing the eternal God of Israel.”
David’s take on Goliath was that he had “defied the armies of the living God” and didn’t have a chance.
So often we become overwhelmed by our problems, and lose true perspective. Fear then grips our heart, and we are open for defeat. Remember who God is. That will give you perspective.
The key to conquering the giants God wants us to conquer, and to peace in all situations, is Read more
May
23
“Sunday Sermons” are occasional posts that are spiritual in nature. They’re frequently items I found helpful and thought might be helpful to others. If that might offend you, or doesn’t interest you, you’re certainly free to skip them!
Today’s “Sermon” comes from a comment by my Pastor, Chuck Smith, from The Word for Today Bible.
“He [God] kept him [Israel] as the apple of His eye.
As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out it’s wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings.
So the Lord alone led him. . .”
from “The Song of Moses”
Deuteronomy 32: 10 d – 12 a
(by Pastor Chuck Smith) God’s dealings with Israel are here compared to the way an eagle deals with its eaglets. The eagle builds its nests up high on the cliffs, where no one can get to it. The mother eagle goes out each day and brings food back to the squaking little eaglets, which devour the food and begin to grow.
But one day, as those eaglets are growing Read more
May
3
Sunday sermon: “Blessed are the peacemakers”
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(5/3/09 by Dave Emerson) Warning: “Sunday Sermons” are spiritual in nature and are usually written from a Biblical/Christian perspective. If this might offend you, you are free to skip this post. . . or to read on and perhaps broaden your perspective.
2 millenia ago a relatively young, unortodox itinerant preacher preached probably the greatest sermon ever given on a hillside in the remote Roman province of Judaea. The “Sermon on the Mount,” as it’s commonly called, contains teachings so radical that they have changed the world, yet are virtually impossible to live up to.
Jesus began his sermon by proclaiming “blessings,” or true happiness, upon eight specific conditions or behaviors. Many of those aren’t what I’d put on a list of “keys to happiness:” Read more
Apr
19
Belated Sunday Sermon from Kenya: Life’s Curveballs
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The omlette bar line this morning at Constitution Park's "Homeless Church"
Warning: Our occasional “Sunday Sermon” series is religious in nature. If that might offend you, feel free to skip it.
(4/19/09) To show you just how small the internet is making our world, today’s “Sunday Sermon” was delivered this morning in Kenya by a Mike Carmen from Knott Avenue Christian Church in Anaheim. I received it as an e-mail earlier today from a young man from Lakewood named Geoff Nighswonger.
Geoff’s an amazing 21-year-old who organized a weekly Sunday morning church and breakfast for the homeless in Bellflower which grew into a non-profit, “Hands On International.” Geoff’s in Kenya now helping Read more
Apr
12
Warning: This is primarily a community and political blog, but on some Sundays we wander into religious territory. If this might offend you, you may want to skip this post.
(4/12/09 by Dve Emerson) Many Christians don’t realize that the “Last Supper” Jesus celebrated with his disciples on “Good Friday” was actually a traditional Passover Cedar.
Not only were Jesus and all twelve of his disciples Jewish, so were all but one of the authors of the New Testament (Luke). Anti-semites who claim to be “Christian” are quick to focus on the role of Jewish religious and political leaders in the death of the radical preacher who they only saw as a threat to their power, but they are forced to skip over the Jewishness of the entire chain of events and of Jesus himself.
Somehow, the Gregorian monks thought a “Christian” calendar Read more
Apr
5
(by Dave Emerson, 4/5/2009, Palm Sunday) Disclosure/warning: This website focuses primarily on Los Alamitos, but our Sunday sermons wander into theological territory. You have been warned.
Around 2,800 years ago an unknown Jewish poet wrote a song of rejoicing in God’s goodness that became one of the most popular hymns of that day. Amazingly, it’s popularity endures to our day. You may well have heard it sung or quoted in your house of worship this weekend:
This is the day that the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)
(Most modern translators treat the second half of Psalm 118:24 as an exhortation.)
Early this morning, driving up the 605 as sparkling spring California sunshine illuminated Mt. Baldy and even 12,500 foot high San Gorgonio 50 miles to the east those words rang through my head:
This is the day that the Lord hath made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
(The translators who worked for King James 400 years ago framed the second half of the verse as a statement.)
Whether it’s a statement of the singers’ intent or an exhortation of both, it’s a great way to begin each day: Committed to greet with joy the new day God has graciously given us, and the blessings and opportunities it will bring.
I suspect it’s easier to greet another Read more
Mar
1
Sunday Sermon: Words to build your life on
Filed Under Decency, Inspiration, Sunday Sermon | 1 Comment
Sharing timeless wisdom with his friends
(3/1/09, by Dave Emerson) LetsFixLosAl.com is primarily about news and politics in Los Alamitos, but we occasionally take some time, often on a Sunday, to focus on matters of far greater importance. If content that is largely spiritual in nature offends you, you may want to simply click on any of the other recent posts from the list at the upper left, or use the “search” window at the bottom of the left column to search this site for posts of interest. After the events of this week here, I certainly don’t want to be accused of being insensitive!
I believe I posted our first “Sunday Sermon” after hearing an especially convicting message from a local pastor. I tried to pass on some of the things he shared. It’s been a while since I’ve put up a Sunday sermon, but I figured the old blog could sure use one after this week.
Some reader comments got me thinking about a post on prayer and the need for it for our city, it’s leaders, businesses, and citizens, especially ahead of what could be a chaotic Council meeting.
I also thought about a post on humility and the lessons we can all learn from this weeks tragedy.
But I finally decided on some timeless excerpts from what most people consider the greatest sermon every preached. There’s enough wisdom here to last a lifetime, and some of it’s quite relevant to our current situation.
It took place on a hillside in Israel almost two millenia ago, but it’s wisdom is truly timeless. It was recorded for us by an eye witness, one of those to whom it was addressed, probably with the help of some of his colleagues. From what he tells us, it sounds more like a casual hillside talk with a group of followers that gradually grew to a large crowd.
Lots of people claim to live by this, the “Sermon on the Mount.” Personally, I don’t think that’s humanly possible. If I could live by 50% of it, I think my life would be an unbelievable success.
Here’s how the author, who was an embezzling tax collector before being recruited by Jesus, sets the stage [Matthew 5:1-2 from The Message translation]:
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
