A Few Good Men—by Jacques Genis
October 16, 2022
Sermon summary:
Romans 15:4 "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us."
1 Cor 10:11 "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us."
1 Kings 15:8 Asa — king of Judah. Son of Abisha. Did right in the eyes of the Lord. He dealt with sin and idolatry. He wasn't sentimental.
It's easy to coexist with sin and idolatry in our lives, ignoring the danger, and treating it like a pet.
- Are you a spiritual analyst (thinking you can handle sin in your life—maybe it's an attitude towards someone, coexisting with them but not united)?
- Maybe it's an action that you've not dealt with. Mark 9:42–47 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.
- Ephesians 5:3–5 There shouldn't even be a hint. Collossians 3:3–5 Put to death what belongs to your earthly nature. These letters were written to disciples of Jesus. We need to have the same attitude as Asa. Repentance is painful. It requires outside help. Don't back out when someone tries to help you; don't give up.
- 2 Chronicles 14:8–11 Asa fully depended on God. He felt powerless despite what he had going for him. He asked God not to let mere mortals win. Psalm 33 The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him. Remember we are powerless. Let your faith be rooted in humility—before making decisions, and to implore God on behalf of others.
- 2 Chronicles 16:1–13 It's not about starting well but finishing strong. Past faithfulness doesn't guarantee future faithfulness. If you don't remain humble and hungry nothing is guaranteed.
The warning: It doesn't have to be that way. We canl finish strong.
Watch the full sermon here (it starts at 37mins)
Because Jesus reconciled us to God through the cross, we are called to pursue reconciliation with God, one another, and the world around us.
Jesus reconciles us to the Father and teaches us to extend his grace, helping us forgive one another, heal relationships, and walk together in peace.
The physics of the pendulum Picture an old grandfather clock in a quiet hallway. Its long brass pendulum swings steadily: tick, tock, tick, tock. Now give that pendulum a hard shove to the right. It does not simply glide back to the center and stop. It races right past the middle and sways just as far to the left. Left to its own momentum, a pendulum never rests at either extreme; it finds peace only when it hangs still at the center, held by gravity and its fixed point. The church behaves in much the same way. Push her too far toward one side of a truth and she does not gently settle into balance, she swings. Often for a whole generation toward the opposite error, and then back again, wounding people at both ends of the arc. And here is the crucial thing the clock teaches us: the pendulum comes to rest not by being frozen in place, but by being held. Balance is not the absence of force; it is the fixed point that keeps opposing pulls in tension so that the weight can finally hang still.