REFLECTIONS BY PASTOR VERLYN

September 29 Reflections

God is always first. I have said this often in messages. First in importance, yes, but also first in order. For instance, God has always existed, then Father, Son and Holy Spirit create. God loves first, from that first love, we love. The commandments can be seen this way. They are given because of who God is…first. God is the giver of life. He protects life, nurtures and cultivates life. Therefore, this is what we are called to do, not murder others. God is the ultimate faithful lover; therefore, we are to be faithful lovers, not committing spiritual or relational adultery. God is the first generous giver…it is his nature to give, therefore we are to have a generous spirit and not steal. God is always first. It is from a relationship with the living God that we called to reflect him to the world.
Two questions that I and many others struggle with are: Am I enough? And will I have enough? I believe these are at the root of stealing something that is not ours, whether it is money by all sorts of means, or cheating on a test, or plagiarizing, or shoplifting. The bottom line is taking something that is not ours. If I don’t believe I am enough, I must get things that make me enough. If I can’t afford that piece of clothing which I think will make me enough, I will shoplift it. There is story after story of people who grew up poor, that go off on a mission of making enough so they will never be poor, but their mission includes breaking the law and cheating and swindling others, so they will have enough. If it was settled that I am enough…I am a child of God, loved and cared for and that God who is all loving, powerful and mighty has promised to care for me that I would have enough, the temptation to steal would be faced head on in grace.
The continuum is also seen in this command. At the foundation/start of the continuum is the truth of God’s unconditional love and our identity as a child of God…I am enough…I will have enough…our hearts and minds can wander away…I am not enough…I don’t have enough…we began to think of ways to be enough and have enough…we start small ( a little amount of money…cheat a little bit on a test)…began to move to bigger amounts…cheating others out of their livelihood…farther and farther away from I am enough…God says I will have enough. At any point you can turn and go back to the Father. The effect of taking $10.00 from your mom’s purse is different that embezzling millions of dollars and forfeiting 100’s of families livelihoods. Both are sin, but they are not equal…one is much further down the continuum. Both require turning back to the One who loves you more than anyone else in the world. We are going to think about this together on Sunday. Some passages to read and reflect on: Exodus 20:15; Matthew7:7-12; John 3:16-17; Isaiah 58:5-10.
Grace upon Grace,
Pastor Verlyn

September 22 Reflections

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) God’s benediction includes human sexuality. It is a good gift from God to be celebrated within the covenant of marriage. Sounds so easy, but the brokenness of human life makes it complicated. Money, sex and power are the three aspects of human life where the brokenness of humanity often shows itself most clearly. When it comes to money I believe, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be faithful stewards. As far as power goes, we are called to be humble servants. When we talk about sex, as followers of Jesus, we are called to covenant faithfulness. The 7th commandment is about this covenant faithfulness. “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
The key, as in all the commands, is to see this command through the eyes of grace. The people are released from slavery: this is how free people love. Love looks like covenant faithfulness. As I did in the command to not murder it is important to see the continuum of the command to not commit adultery. It begins with the same truth: God’s unconditional love…live in covenant faithfulness (with me says God and with one another)…seeing a beautiful/handsome person of the of the opposite sex(this is not necessarily part of the sin continuum away from God’s love; it is part of being human)…instead of letting the seeing of the beautiful/handsome person out the back door of your mind, you begin to nurse this image, fantasize, dwell in it…this is called lust…the heart and mind are absorbed with this person…(which Jesus called sin, just as the act of adultery is sin…remember all sin is sin, but not all sin is equal)…you begin to intentionally engage this other person in conversation (flirting); seeing if there is an opening for a deeper physical relationship…the relationship intimacy deepens…the act of adultery. Each step on the continuum is away from the unconditional love of God. At each step you can stop, turn back to the Father, confess the sin and received forgiveness. The forgiveness is extended to adulterers if they see their sin, turn back to the Father, resting in his unconditional love. (John 8:1-11) On the continuum if the matter stays in the heart (it still is sin) but the human community consequences are not nearly as devastating as actual physical adultery. One counselor emphasized at a minimum at least 100 people will be affected.
This is a deeply intimate command, which in my mind can only be approached with God’s grace. Issues of sex before marriage, rape, incest, unfaithfulness, sexual abuse, pornography (for women as well as men), same sex attraction, same sex marriage, fantasy and acting out the fantasies are all included in the command. All of them cannot be covered in one message, but what I hope to do is cover some foundational truths in grace.
On Sunday we are going to think about the command, “You shall not commit adultery.” Some passages to read and reflect on: Exodus 20:14; Matthew 5:27-28; John 8:1-11; Hosea 11.
Grace upon Grace,
Verlyn

September 15 Reflections

Verlyn

September 8 Reflections


September 1 Reflections


August 25 Reflections


August 18 Reflections


August 11 Reflections


August 4 Reflections


June 30 Reflections

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