Tag: gospel

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Be Your Witness

Savior of All,
It isn’t complicated. I know my salvation. Countless others do not. Make me a witness. Present me with opportunities to point others to Jesus that are so undeniable and unavoidable that I absolutely cannot help but speak up, no matter how timid I might otherwise be. Then, open my mouth! Send your Spirit to cover me with courage, confidence, compassion, and clarity, so that I both honor you in how I make you known and pave the path by which your Spirit may allow the seeds of faith to germinate. Afterward, cause my heart to soar, not merely based on the outcome or results, which you alone are responsible for, but simply at the privilege of getting to make you known! Let such experiences continually kindle in me an increasing desire to be eager to evangelize. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Gospel-Centered Marriages

God of Marriage,
Your gift of marriage is not only a sacred institution, but also a high and holy calling. It is also one of the most unique and special blessings mankind can experience. Thank you for this special bond that is also intended to guide husbands and wives into a deeper appreciation for the gospel and the sacrificial love of Christ for his church. When your grace and forgiveness are the foundation of marriage, couples have what they need to flourish and thrive in marriage. Through a regular diet of law and gospel, strip spouses of selfishness and replace it with the genuine joy of putting each other first. Bring about this godly desire in marriage partners by clearly making known to them your sacrificial and unconditional love for them. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Christ to Be Exalted Through Places of Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. When believers gather in church for worship, they experience so much that points to Jesus. The means of grace – the gospel in Word and the sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism – will always remain front and center. But do not let the richness of liturgical worship or the design and details of the worship space be lost on worshippers, either. Bible stories stained in glass help us fix our thoughts on Jesus. The placement of the baptismal font reassures us that we belong to your family through baptism. The cross and the altar lead us to recall your precious sacrifice for our sins. Christian symbols on display help cement Christian doctrine and teaching. May churches always give thought to the rich variety of ways Christ is proclaimed, and may worshippers always be edified and drawn closer to their Savior through them.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Take the First Step

God of Reconciliation,
Only you know how many friendships and relationships are on life support right now. While both parties in some of those situations may actually be better off by going their separate ways, many other relationships can not only be salvaged, but even prosper through reconciliation. I pray for the individuals in those situations to be open to the possibility of restoring their relationship. Free them from any bitterness or anger between them that has only hardened them even more. Burst their pride and overwhelm them with a clear sense of the magnitude of your forgiveness for them, so that they are spurred on to forgive each other. Make each party willing to make the first move, whether that includes a confession or a call to repentance. Give them a sensitivity to the hurt or pain they may have caused, and allow your gospel to take center stage as they work toward reconciliation. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Faith

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(Genesis 12:1-8)

What do we really need? In my last post/sermon, the answer was “a gift.” Anything that is going to make right our relationship with God that has been naturally shattered by our sin has to come from him, since we can’t earn it or fix it. It must be given. It must be received. It must be a gift, and it must be by grace. And it is.

But we need more than that. Why? Because, while salvation from God is entirely a gift, entirely by grace, and entirely through Jesus Christ, not everyone will benefit from it. Something else is needed. And, while we have a name for that “something,” you’ll notice we don’t see the word for it at all in our verses from Genesis 12. The word is “faith,” and you can search through Genesis 12:1-8 with a fine-tooth comb, but you won’t find it anywhere. The word “faith” isn’t even in our verses at all. 

But, while the word faith isn’t in our verses from Genesis, faith itself is very visible. We see what faith looks like. We see faith put into practice. We observe faith. So let us see it and celebrate it in Abram, and let us rejoice in it by reflecting it in our lives also, all while thanking God yet again for providing exactly what I need: faith.

What does God’s gift of faith do? Faith listens, it acts, and it is blessed.

Look at this gift in the life of Abram. Genesis 12 starts out with the words, “The Lord had said to Abram” (v.1). Here is the first point – rather obvious, I admit – yet without it, faith cannot exist. It has to hear the Lord speak. Abram didn’t have the Bible we do today. He didn’t have Scriptures to read, study, and digest in order to listen to God. God simply spoke to him directly. We can’t miss this easily overlooked point about faith. It listens. It hears. God speaks, and faith’s ears perk up to hear what God is saying. 

God doesn’t promise to speak to us directly, as he did to Abram. Nor does he need to. In fact, we ought to be relieved that he’s given us something more reliable to listen to than his direct voice: he’s given us his Word. That may sound backwards to some today, as a person might naturally presume that God speaking directly to me is more desirable than “settling” for his Word.

But if we bend our ears to some voice outside of the Word, how do we know it’s God’s? Are we sure it’s his, and how are we sure? Because we like what we hear? Because it validates what I’ve already made up my mind to do? How do we know it’s God’s voice and not our own voice? Or echoes from a movie we saw, a conversation we had, a speaker we listened to, or even the voice of the one who does his best to masquerade as an angel of light, Satan?

If I shared all of the times people told me that God directly spoke to them or told them to do something directly, and then compared all of those results, do you know what we’d have? Lots of confusion and chaos! And, God apparently changing his mind quite a bit and giving some pretty bad advice to some and new and improved guidance to others that the rest of us are not privileged to have!

On top of all of that, I realize how things like social media and all of our methods of communication have played games with my own memory (“Did I actually communicate with a person in real life, was I there, or am just remembering an update they shared online?”). That’s made it difficult at times to nail down reality within my own memory. Am I sure then, that I want to risk the uncertainty of God speaking to me directly and me mixing up the details?

Faith listens to what God says, and what God says is clearly laid out for us in Scripture. Let’s keep our ears tuned to the Bible and not look to or hope for other revelations. He hasn’t promised them.

For many of us, that’s where we’re stuck in our Christian life, right here at this step. This is where the growth needs to happen, by simply listening to God in his Word. I don’t know if anyone has ever written anything as profound as what I’m about to write, but… read your Bible.

Often. Daily. Frequently. More than you are.

That’s what faith does. It listens to God’s voice. Start there. If you haven’t done that yet, or don’t know how to start or how to get back on track reading the Bible, there’s no shame in acknowledging that, but… you should be ashamed of continuing to be OK with that if you do nothing to change it. No excuses. Because faith is inseparable from the Word. 

When faith grows, it moves on to the next step (while always continuing with the first: listening!). Faith listens and then acts. Following the blessing promised by God, take note of the short sentence that follows.“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (v.4a). He listened to what the Lord told him and went! See how listening informed the action Abram took? He didn’t just act in some form or fashion that he thought best, but went “as the Lord had told him.” Faith listened and then acted – as directed by God. 

Abram’s faith didn’t just stop there, either. Look at how else it acted each time he arrived at a new rest stop. When he arrived at the great tree of Moreh at Shechem, “he built an altar there to the Lord” (v.7b). Then, he arrived at the next stop, “with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord” (v.8).

Have you ever stopped to consider the effort that kind of worship required? We pat ourselves on the back for showing up at church on Sunday, but imagine the effort required in the construction project of building an altar every time you wanted to worship! And, at 75, Abram was no spring chicken! Abram’s faith acted, both in obedience to what God had commanded him to do, but also in the natural outflow of worship, reflective of a heart inclined toward God.

How does our faith look in this department? Where does it have opportunity to get put into action? Where does it obey? Where does it worship (not just on Sunday morning, but daily)? Again, for many of us, faith in action looks like the first step we already talked about – getting to know your Bible. That is a faith that is listening and acting. So start there. 

Others of you, though, are or ought to be more mature in your faith. God didn’t call you to faith to stay at the level of faith at which he called you, but to grow and mature. Faith doesn’t mature when faith doesn’t act. So ask yourself this tough question: where am I disobeying or disregarding God’s call to action for my faith that is keeping me from maturing? Wrestle with that question.

Then, as you uncover the answer – or rather, answers, plural – repent of them. When you’ve done that, turn to the gracious God whose love and forgiveness for you will never run out, and ask him to lead you on that path of a mature faith that acts.

Do you know where the confidence to carry out that practice comes from? It comes from the third thing that faith “does.” It’s blessed. When faith listens and acts, blessings follow, and low and behold, guess what happens when blessings follow? They prompt us to listen and act even more! It’s like some beautiful divine cycle that God had in mind. Listen, act, blessing, listen, act, blessing, etc. Do you think it’d be a good cycle to get your life on board with? I do! So does God. 

Hear again how God blessed Abram’s faith. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (v.2-3). Do you remember all of the achievements Abram had accomplished at this point to deserve such a gracious promise from God? Did you look at the preceding verses and chapters to see the record of Abram’s righteousness?

Oh, that’s right – there isn’t anything!

That’s because God was the initiator of this blessing. It wasn’t set into motion by Abram’s own obedience or righteousness. Rather, God promised it and prompted Abram’s own obedience and righteousness. 

That’s how it is with us, too, isn’t it? God doesn’t just promise to bless us when faith listens and acts, but he blesses us so that faith listens and acts in response. Yes, we’re sandwiched in blessings! God blesses us on the front end and the back end because that’s who he is. 

In fact, did you even know that this promise God gave Abram was about you? How did God bless all people on earth through Abram? Jesus, that’s how. Jesus would come from the great nation God promised Abram, and as his one divine descendant, all people would be blessed through the Savior, Jesus Christ. That’s you. Blessed by the gracious gift of salvation we talked about last Sunday – the gift that is exactly what you need. Blessed also by the faith to believe and receive that gift. Blessed to be called into the same family of faith as Abram and all believers ever since. Blessed to be washed in forgiveness through your baptism and fed and filled up with forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper. Blessed to have the blessing of the Bible dwell richly in our homes and lives. 

You have exactly what you need; you have faith. It receives the eternal benefits of everything Jesus did for you. But don’t shortchange it, as if that’s all faith was intended to do, to serve as the conduit by which we receive eternal life. No, it’s capable of much more, which is why God gifted it to you. God showed that to Abram, who listened, acted, and was blessed.

Will you let God show you what faith is capable of receiving from him? 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Faithful Gospel Preaching

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Wherever your Word is proclaimed in worship today, let it be done so accurately and with clarity, and include a balance of law and gospel. Comfort afflicted souls while also afflicting souls too comfortable with sin. Where stories and illustrations are provided, work through them to offer not mere entertainment value, but to enlighten and reinforce your promises and truths. Allow the gracious news of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus to predominate in the messages. Through such faithful preaching, Lord, feed the sheep of your flock well.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Gift of Life

Dear Jesus,
The gift is not like the trespass. Because of the trespass of one man, Adam, death reigned. It ruled without mercy, unchallenged. All sinners were helpless to address their fate. Then you came, Lord, and dethroned death! By your sinless life, your sacrificial death, and your death-defying resurrection, you brought life. Truly, the gift is not like the trespass! Where faith in you is present, death no longer calls the shots, but must submit to the eternal life that is your gift of grace to all who believe. Thank you for the grace that makes this gift mine.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For No Fear of Condemnation

Dear Jesus,
The gift is not like the trespass. The judgment resulting from the trespass is condemnation, while the judgment following the gift is acquittal. We rejoice, Lord, for the gift of your grace means no fear of condemnation! Though I am guilty of sin, you do not count it against me. Though I earned condemnation, your gift is justification. As a result of your sacrifice, all sin – including my sin – has been paid for in full, meaning there is no substance to the empty accusations of the evil one. The eternal death sentence of Adam’s trespass has been undone by the gift of your grace. How true it is that the gift is not like the trespass!

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Make the Gift Known

Dear Jesus,
The gift is not like the trespass. Through Adam’s act of disobedience in the garden, death came into the world. However, through you, Jesus, the gift of grace overflowed. In Adam, we all die. In Christ, we live. While the result of Adam’s trespass – death – directly affects all people, whether they know why or not, Jesus’ gift of grace has to be made known, for it can only be received by faith. Truly, the gift is nothing like the trespass! Let my mouth speak to others of this gift of grace so that death is not the end of their story. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Light More Candles

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(Matthew 4:12-23)

It’s one of those quotes that has been attributed to so many different individuals that it’s quite uncertain who the original author is. I am also quite certain I’ve referenced the quote at some point in a previous sermon or post. Perhaps you’ve heard it: “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” If you’re really concerned about determining who ought to be credited with the saying, feel free to research it and let me know. For my part, and for the purpose of this post, I’m more interested in seeing the quote put into practice than I am in knowing who said it. 

Isn’t light what the world needs more of? I don’t think there would be too much pushback if I shared the opinion that the world is a dark place. Regardless of what your views on anything are, you won’t have any trouble on any given day coming across a story or headline that has you convinced things are going in the wrong direction. The world is going down the toilet. The world is dark.

What’s especially sneaky about the darkness is that we tend to get used to it. It’s called dark adaptation. You’ve experienced this when you’ve left a lighted room and entered a dark or poorly lit room. At first, it’s difficult to see where anything is. In a relatively short time, though, one’s eyes adjust and become accustomed to the dark. We can see things clearly enough to get around, and we get used to it.

You’ve experienced the same thing with sin. At first it shocked you. Now… not so much. Initially, it was absolutely wrong. Then, after a while, it became more of a gray area. It was clearly sinful way back when, but if it has become so common and normalized today, can it still be so bad? We get used to the dark. We get used to sin. 

But getting rid of the darkness isn’t a matter of somehow decreasing the dark. You can’t “put out” the darkness. You can’t take the dark away or remove it. Darkness only disappears in the presence of light. When light is removed, that’s when darkness results.

A piece of paneled artwork in a room at our church depicts this. As your eyes scan from left to right, you notice the piece of art starts out completely covered in a golden light. There is no darkness. That was the world as God created it. But when is the darkness introduced? When sin enters the world.

That may give the impression that the darkness, which dominates the nine middle art panels until the final one, is the introduction of sin in a fallen world. In one sense, yes, but as you consider what sin does, what really happened? The light of holiness and perfection was removed. When that was all the world knew, it was covered in light. But once sin entered, the light of holiness and perfection exited the world. 

But, throughout the artwork, a thread of light is woven in the darkness. This is the good news of the gospel, or the promise of purity and perfection restored. The initial step in that promise has been carried out by Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, which is reflected in the center of the artwork. The final step, when that promise of purity and perfection will be fully delivered – and the golden light with it – will take place in the Revelation imagery when Jesus returns on the Last Day. When he does, complete light is restored, as it is in the final panel of the art piece. The new world ushered in by our Savior will not know darkness because the light of purity and perfection will be all there is.

So as we anticipate that radiant renewal, how do we handle the darkness in the meantime? What is the solution to the darkness we see in the world? When light is reintroduced, darkness disappears. We don’t “fix” the darkness; we shine the light.

Isaiah’s prophecy revealed when that light was going to be introduced into the world. “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (v.15-16). The light had come into the world at Jesus’ birth, and it was now beginning to get brighter with Jesus’ ministry. The light would shine its brightest in the darkest moment of Jesus’ death on Good Friday and in the full splendor of the empty tomb. The Resurrection would ensure that the darkness would be defeated. 

But the Messiah didn’t just come to save; he came to proclaim. The Messiah had a message: the gospel. If no one had ever heard the message of the Messiah’s salvation, who would have benefited? No one! The message had to be heard. A fully operational light switch with a working light bulb still needs to be turned on to be effective. So it is with the message of the Messiah’s salvation – it needs to be heard and believed to be effective.

So it wasn’t just the Messiah, but a Messiah with a message. “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (v.17). Jesus’ message was to turn around, to change your thinking, to realize that the way you were going on your own was only going to result in an eternal dead end. Why? Because a better way – the only way – had arrived. Jesus was there to shine the light of salvation for all. 

The word “repent” tends to get a bad reputation in our day and age. It evokes images of hard-line fundamentalist Christians, protesting and picketing, who seem to find more joy in condemning sinners than in pointing them to Christ.

But another way to think of that word repent in the context of light and dark is simply to acknowledge that we’re in the dark. When that happens, we realize how much we need – and appreciate – the light that has come.

So when we’ve become comfortable in the darkness of sin, we repent. When we see the darkness of sin around us, we repent for simply looking the other way or ignoring it. When we see the darkness of sin in our loved ones, we repent for permitting it. 

And then we’re ready for the light. We’re ready for the light of God’s grace in Jesus to dispel the darkness. We’re ready for the gospel to beam so brightly into our hearts that all darkness is gone. We’re ready for the good news that Jesus preached and carried out to reach our ears, too. Then we see the blessing of being in the light. We see how pleasing and pleasant it is to walk in the light. And we want it for others, too. 

See, it wasn’t just a Messiah with a message, but also a Messiah making messengers. Matthew makes that connection clear for us by first revealing the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, then choosing to write about Jesus calling his disciples. “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him” (v.18-22). The Messiah proclaimed his message, then he called his messengers. Why? So that more candles could be lit.

It’s easy for us to forget that we are called to light candles. We are messengers. We are the solution to the darkness. We are the ones to spread the light. We are the hope for a world blanketed in darkness. So let’s practice.

Someone brings up the latest crushing headline. We acknowledge it. We lament it. We share our frustration and disappointment over it. But then what? Do we just leave it at that? No, let’s get into the habit of asking each other, “How can we light a candle?” What can we do – because we are not powerless! – what can we do in response to the news just discussed? How can we light a candle to put out that darkness?

I can light a candle by praying right then and there. I can light a candle by ensuring that my children grow up in their faith and develop a relationship with Jesus that I wish I had started earlier. I can light a candle by bringing Jesus into the conversation with my friend who is going through a divorce. I can light a candle by making a difference in my neighborhood simply by getting to know my neighbors and building bridges to Jesus. I can light a candle by volunteering and supporting good causes in my community. There are countless ways for us to light a candle daily!

Call out the darkness. Identify it. Name it. But don’t waste your time or energy cursing it. Ask how you can light a candle instead. When that happens, darkness is replaced with light, and others can see its source – Jesus – more clearly. Brothers and sisters in Christ, “[we, too!] have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Mt. 4:15). Let’s light more candles!