Worry Wart

I found this on the Internet as a sermon illustration for "worry." I got a good laugh out of it and so I thought I would share it.

How you can tell when it's going to be a rotten day:

You wake up face down on the pavement.
You see a "60 Minutes" news team waiting in your office.
Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the freeway. Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat. The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard. You wake up and your braces are locked together. You call your answering service and they tell you it's none of your business.
Your income tax check bounces. You put both contact lenses in the same eye. Your wife says, "Good morning, Bill", and your name is George.

Source Unknown.

Worry, of course, is no laughing matter because we usually worry about nothing. Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but you don't get anywhere. Jesus Christ taught a lot about worry, positive and negative. One should read Matthew 6:19-35 to see what he said!

Matthew Three Study Guide PT. 1

This Wednesday, March 21, we will begin studying Matthew 3. From Matthew 2:23 to Matthew 3:1 we jump nearly 30 years in time; We jump from the birth narrative, to the ministry of John the Baptist, and his baptism of Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us nothing concerning these childhood and young adult years of Jesus life from two to thirty, save Luke's account in 2:41-52 when Jesus is twelve years old. We are not to worry ourselves over this. The childhood and young adult years are of no concern in reference to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are some thoughts/observations/comments that may be helpful for you as you study this portion of Scripture and prepare for Wednesday night.

1) We are immediately confronted with one named John the Baptist. This is the first occurrence of his name in Matthew, Luke of course gives us the details concerning his birth, and per usual Matthew has made a connection with this event and the fulfillment of Scripture (Matthew 3:3; Isa. 40:3). Take the time now to pick up a good bible dictionary and read up on John the Baptist.

2) In Matthew 3:2 we see part of the message John the Baptist has been preaching is "repentance." This is a word we do not hear enough of from the pulpits of churches and from the mouths of evangelists around the world. This is an action that is far too often unpracticed in our own lives and in the lives of those all over the world. I say all of this because we live in a world of relativism. We live in a world where we are told everyone is right, and so if everyone is right then what is there to repent from? Contra relativism, repentance is fundamental to the preaching and acceptance of the gospel. Take time now to think about the importance of repentance. How would you define repentance? Consider the connection John the Baptist makes between repentance and the nearness of the kingdom of heaven. What is the significance of that? What does the kingdom of heaven have to do with repentance? Additionally, think of the significance of who he is preaching this message of repentance to! He is telling the Jews to repent! It is not enough to be born a Jew to enter the kingdom of heaven. In application then it is not enough to be born in a christian family, to be baptized, to answer to an altar call to truly be repentant!

3) What is the connection between John the Baptist and Elijah?

4) In Matthew 3:7 we are introduced for the first time to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Take time now to look them up in a good bible dictionary.

5) What does John the Baptist mean by "I baptize you with water....but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire?"

6) John the Baptist's words in Matthew 3:7-12 clearly refer to eternal punishment in fire.

7) What is intended by Jesus words to John the Baptist "for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness?" Does Jesus need to repent? Is Jesus righteous before his baptism?

8) Again the Holy Spirit is shown to be intricately involved in the life of Jesus Christ, first in his birth and now at his baptism in Matthew 3:16. We would do well to stop and be thankful for the powerful role the Spirit has played in the life of Christ and in your life right now! The Spirit often plays a "thankless" role in our lives.

This weekend I will post some concluding thoughts concerning Matthew 2 since we are now moving on to Matthew three.

Matthew 2 Study Guide PT. 2

This Wednesday, March 14, we will continue with our study of Matthew 2. Last week we completed Matthew 2:1-12, which is concerned with the visit of the magi, so this Wednesday we will Lord willing cover the rest of Matthew 2. Here are some thoughts/comments/observations to aid you as you prepare for this upcoming study.

1) Matthew 2 is the more unfamiliar, perhaps darker, story in regard to the birth narrative of Jesus Christ. How often we hear messages of our Lord's birth from Matthew 1-2:12 but when is the last time you heard a message from Matthew 2:12-23? Is it or is it not just as relevant and important for us to study and seek to understand? I fear we often avoid these final verses of Matthew 2 because it presents the "ugly side" of Christ's birth. We always want to present the beautiful side of Christ's birth to the world. Matthew saw fit to include both the beautiful and the ugly together. To what purpose has Matthew done this?

2) Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2:15. Read Hosea 11 now (I say Hosea 11, not just Hosea 11:1 because they did not have chapters and verses in Matthew's time so when Matthew quotes what is to us Hosea 11:1 it was to the original readers a cause to read the entire context or passage from which this quotation comes)! Hosea 11 describes the history of the nation of Israel at the time of the Exodus as well as the succeeding events. Hosea's focus is on the nation and not the Messiah. In fact, there is no reason at all in reading Hosea 11 to think of the Messiah. Yet when Matthew quotes this passage he relates it as being fulfilled by the events in Christ's life! Matthew connects these two completely unrelated events! How and on what basis has Matthew made this connection?Does this quotation trouble you? Does this use of the Old Testament in the New Testament shake your hermeneutics? It should! How are we to understand Matthew's use of the Old Testament in his book? Does he understand Hosea 11:1 as predictive prophecy? As Sensus Plenior? As typological? Or in some other manner?

3) Matthew 2:16-18 really brings to light the darker side to the story of Christ's birth. Again I ask why has Matthew included this? How is this related to his quotation of Jeremiah 31:15?

4) Who is Archelaus and why is Joseph afraid of him? Josephus discusses him in some length in his works. See "Antiquities of the Jews" Book 17, the last few chapters.

5) What is the significance of Jesus residing in Nazareth?

Think Upon Christ

Because of the emphasis in this blog upon "how one thinks directly impacts how one lives," I thought it would be beneficial to post a few thoughts about Christ that we should think about, and indeed, praise God for, that we might be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

Our mind, our thoughts, our whole bent of being then should be set on things above. Reasons to dwell on Christ:

We have been rescued from the kingdom of Darkness (Col. 1:13)
We have been transferred into the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13)
In Christ we have redemption (Col 1:14)
In Christ we have forgiveness of sins (Col 1:14)
Christ is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15)
Christ is the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15)
By Christ all things were created (Col 1:16)
All things have been created through Christ and for Christ (Col 1:16)
Christ is before all things (Col 1:17)
In Christ all things hold together (Col 1:17)
Christ is the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18)
Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything (Col 1:18)
All the fullness of deity dwells in him (Col 1:19; Col 2:9)
Through Christ all things are reconciled to God, having made peace through the blood of the cross (Col 1:20)
Though you were alienated, hostile in mind, and engaged in evil deeds, Christ has reconciled you in his fleshly body through death to present you before God holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Col 1:21-22)
Christ is in your and he is the hope of glory (Col 1:27)
In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3)
You have been firmly rooted and are now being built up in Him and established in your faith (Col 2:7)
In Christ you have been made complete (Col 2:10)
Christ is the head over all rule and authority (Col 2:10)
You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God (Col 2:12)
You were dead in your transgressions and uncircumcision of your flesh, but Christ made you alive together with him (Col. 2:13)
He has forgiven you all your transgressions (Col 2:13)
Christ has nailed to the cross the certificate of debt which was hostile to you (Col 2:14)
Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them (Col 2:15)
Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Col 3:1)
Your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3)
Christ is our life (Col 3:4)
When Christ is revealed then we will also be revealed with him in glory (Col 3:4)