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Sermon #1:

Atta Way to Wait

The Advent Season is a time Christians celebrate with joyous expectation the birth of Christ and look toward his return. Advent is a time of preparation, of renewal & conversion in planning for Christ's coming. It has been 2000 years since Christ told mankind of what we call the rapture, and chances are he will not return during our lifetime, but of that we cannot be sure. If he does not come back before our generation ends, then, of course our preparation is still necessary for we know not how long life will be for each of us. And so, Advent is a time of watching and waiting. And a time for new beginnings in profession of faith or re-dedication. But getting right with GOD heightens our spirits and creates hope and peace and joy within us that filters through-out our daily lives. Thus, Advent is a time of consecration yet it is also a time of happiness and joy.
The word Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, which means coming. The tradition started over 1500 yrs ago, around 500 AD. Observed much more diligently then that now, Christians first began preparing for Christmas, and the Second Coming with fasting and prayer 40 days prior to Christmas Day. But, over the centuries, that period was shortened to what we know now as the Advent Season, which begins four (4) Sundays before Christmas Day.
During the Advent Season, it is customary to use an Advent Wreath of 4 candles, one for each of the 4 Sabbaths, to commemorate and mark the time for the coming Savior. The Advent Wreath carries many rich symbols. It is in the shape of a circle, which represents eternity - a circle has no beginning and no end. The evergreen symbolizes life, growth, & hope that comes from GOD's constant renewal of creation on His green earth.. The 3 blue candles symbolize sadness felt in repentance for our sins, and thus represent a time of preparation of our hearts for Christ by looking into ourselves to recognize that Christ is needed in our lives. The pink candle stands for the joy we know because GOD loves us so much that He sent His Son to bring us close to Him.
Let us Pray: Lord GOD Almighty, we offer humble praise to You. Father, for each of the next 4 Sundays, we will light an Advent candle to mark our anticipation for Christ's return. We think it has been such a long time since you were here, but look how quickly the past had fled. Now, we await the second coming of Christ while we celebrate his first arrival. Thanks be to You, that because of Jesus we can find shelter, consolation and hope during the uncertain times of our lives. For we have sure and certain knowledge that Christ will come again. While we wait, Dear Father, help us to labor on, and love on, in faith, knowing that in doing so, we fulfill your purposes for us. AMEN

The scripture today from Matthew 24:36-44 is Jesus personally speaking of his return. People have different thoughts about preparing themselves for that. Pastor Philip Gulley tells about Walter, the gentle-man who digs graves for the town of Danville, Indiana. Walter believes that the body will literally come out of the ground when the resurrection of the dead occurs on the day when Christ returns. In anticipation of that fact, Walter only digs his graves five feet deep instead of the standard six feet. Walter says he doesn't want those who are buried to have to work too hard to get out when that important day comes. When Walter's own mother passed away, he dug her grave just four feet deep. He said that she worked hard all her life and he doesn't want her to have to labor any more than necessary on that Glorious Day.

How about you? How do you feel about Jesus' return?
In one of his routines, comedian Robert G. Lee describes the different headlines the media may publish on the day of Christ's arrival. He names the headlines:

Time Magazine: "He's Man of the Millennium!"
Field & Stream: "Fisher of Men Returns"
National Enquirer: "Christ Comes Back-- Says He Knows Where Elvis Is!"
And the headline for Atheist Monthly: "Oops!"
That's my favorite. "Oops." "Oops! I didn't know." "Oops! I forgot." "Oops! I thought You were kidding." "Oops! I made other plans."

According to our Bible passage for today, that is what some people will be saying on that day: "Oops." Verses 40 and 41 read, "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." A hand mill was a large grinding mill with a stone handle. Women had responsibility for food preparation thus women ground the grain for bread. It usually required two women to turn the handle. The women would be sitting on the ground, with their hands wrapped around the mill handle. Their hands would be overlapping. And suddenly, one woman will disappear. That vivid description applied to workers of that time. But Jesus is a man for all seasons. Today, two people might be working next to each other at their desks, or side by side in construction work, or riding in a car pool, when one will vanish.
Some of you may have read Tim Lahaye's books, or seen the movies based on the rapture. According to the Bible, the worse thing that could happen would be to be left behind. For those of you who might not understand, those who have salvation but have passed on prior to Jesus return, their spirit lives and remains with Christ in His realm until he returns. (Luke 20: "They become like angels and cannot die anymore. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.") - John 11:26 Revelations speaks of the righteous who are in heaven already at the end of time. But they will not receive a new body until Christ returns. The resurrection of the body, which will occur for all - those who are condemned as well as those who are saved, will not occur until Christ returns. "Flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God" (I Cor. 15:50). The new body Christians will receive will be imperishable and not of flesh and blood that we know. But, though the condemned cannot die, the Bible does not describe their body. However, what will happen to the bodies of the condemned will be quiet different from the experiences of the saved.
So what are we to think of these teachings ? First of all, we would do well to take them seriously. Jesus made it clear that there will someday be a new heaven and earth. Only that which is of God is eternal. In the meantime, we are to live life abundantly with the Holy Spirit so that we need not worry about getting caught with our hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. Science and theology are in agreement that there will be an end time to history.

And so, it is time to watch and wait - wait upon the Lord. The book of Luke, chapter two, tells the story of Simeon, a man who spent his life waiting for the Lord. Simeon had been told by God that he would see the face of the Messiah before his death. So Simeon was constantly watching and waiting, constantly on the lookout, because at any moment he knew he might see the Lord. There are many words for "look" in the Greek language, but the word that was used to describe Simeon's behavior is "prosdechomai." Pros means "forward," dechomai means "to wait." "To wait forward."

Ever looked forward with anticipation for something you knew would happen ? How about vacation time ? Ever strain at the lease at work looking forward to getting away ? We are to wait in a "prosdechomai" manner - with a sense of hope, of expectation, of excitement. Like the anticipation of children waiting for Christmas morning. It is the opposite of bored, impatient, or apathetic waiting. This same word, prosdechomai, is used in Luke 12: 35-37 to describe the manner in which we are to wait for Christ's return.

But there is a reason for our journey here. "Waiting forward" means that our lives have purpose. Many Christians read these words of Jesus and fear the future. That can cause a person not to live a fruitful life of joy, but one of negativity.
I heard of a Christian who was a barber but he had an odd way of witnessing. He would lather up a customer for a shave, come at him with a straight razor, and ask, "Are you prepared to meet the Lord ?" Often the frightened customer would run away with the lather still on his face! Reminds me of the guy who got saved when he fell into a deep, open grave. Prayed to Lord to help him and he would help bring people to the Lord. Sure enough, along came a man who helped him get out. The freed man became a Pastor. From then on when he met someone whom he thought needed saving, he would take him and shove him into the open grave.

That's the reaction some people have to these verses from the New Testament. But the best approach is like the little boy who was having a difficult time memorizing John 3:16. After several attempts, he said, "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not panic but have everlasting life." Well, he's right. Whoever believes in God and Christ will not perish, so they don't have to panic. It is out of God's great love for us that Jesus came. And it is out of that same love that He will come again. We don't have to be afraid - only have faith.

You and I are in a Church filled with GOD's good spirit. What a blessed place in time we have to wait together. Our church is alive with an energizing spirit GOD generates from the young people we have. A fine group of youngsters, in whom we can have confidence for the future. Lead by excellent examples of parents. Praise be to GOD! It is now that we need to be working with and training a youth leader for the future, and while we have time to get to know that person before she assumes responsibility. Meanwhile, we wait for Christ while doing His will - and it is a joyous Advent wait He has provided. AMEN
Sermon # 2
Luke 19:1-10 - Zacchaeus - Up A Tree ?

Theologian John Killinger has written that Zaccheus is just about the only person in the New Testament who is singled out by his physical appearance - the fact that he was small in stature. Point of this story that appeals to us is that no matter what our appearance, our Savior is concerned only with the appearance of our inner selves.

People pay lots of attention to outward appearance. That is a great part of the reasons for the immense popularity of health spas, health clubs, and weight control centers. There are literally millions who want a body other than the one they occupy.

Elizabeth Taylor, who was long considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, once told an interviewer that she had spent most of her life wanting to look like someone else! Ever see Actor Don Knotts (Barney Fife he played on the old Andy Griffith show)? Popular and successful though he was, in great part due to his frail appearance, Knotts said that he wanted a "body transplant."
We live in a society that judges by appearance and preaches that one solution to the problems of humans is improvement of self-esteem - that you can cure almost anything that ails you by improving your image. But I would suggest that it helps not to take yourself too seriously. Like the story of one bald guy to another: "I'll tell you a joke that will knock all the hair off your head..... Whoops! I see you already heard it." Or, one beauty contestant to another; "Boy, some of the girls are just skeletons." "Yeah! And a no body won, too."

Now, we owe Luke gratitude for it is in his Gospel alone that we are told this dramatic story that capsulizes what the mission of Jesus was all about, and in turn what the mission of the church is all about. The event happened while Jesus was passing through Jericho, "the city of palms."
Just before Jesus entered Jerusalem, on Palm Sunday, he passed through Jericho, located about 17 miles NW of Jerusalem. Now, living in Jericho was about like living in central Florida. The land that is fertile, well irrigated and has a tropical climate that caused it to be nick-named "the city of palm trees." Archaeological excavations reveal people lived there 9000 years before Christ. It was in Jericho Jesus had his encounter with Zaccheus, who was a chief tax collector and very rich. If you can't remember any other Bible story from your childhood, I expect that you remember this one, helped by the cute little song that came with it: "Zaccheus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he/ He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see……."
Writes Luke: "And there was a man named Zacchaeus he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich." In one sentence we are told the story of a human life.

Zacchaeus is first noted for his size, his statue among humans. 2000 years ago people were smaller, on average. Historians say we live in a race of giants compared to the generations centuries ago. So, I think of Zacchaeus as being about three feet tall. Even so, Zaccheus was lifted up, named, valued, not on the basis of who or what he was, but on the basis of who Jesus is.

Nothing in first century Judea was quite so hated and despised as was the Roman tax. It not only reminded the Jews that they were a dominated people, it also represented a theological insult. To the Jew there was only one King, and that was God - not Caesar. Paying tribute to an earthly non-Jewish monarch was something that the Hebrews had opposed throughout their long history.

Yet we find that the dirty work of collecting taxes was done not by the Romans, but by Jews willing to extort their own people for money. Because, to make matters worse, some of the money they collected off the backs of their fellow countrymen stuck to their own fingers.

We are told that Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. That is the only time in the New Testament that term is used. It meant that he was over a district. Zacchaeus may have been short in stature, but he had wealth which means he had power. To gain that position in spite of his size indicates he was a fearsome, conniving little fellow. So Zacchaeus was a little man with a big reputation. And he was not just well to do. According to Luke, he was rich.
But in many ways Zacchaeus was as poor as any man in Jericho. For all of his money he was an empty man. Shunned by his own race and branded a vile sinner as unacceptable to man or GOD, by the Jewish Priests. In the world of the flesh he had money and comfort, but in the world of the spirit - he had nothing.

So people must have looked upon him with complete contempt. He was cut off from the community of God. And there is symbolism in his title "chief tax collector." It is another way of saying that he was considered "chief" among sinners.
But this is not just a story of Zacchaeus; it is the story of what it means to be a lost person who was saved. What do we mean when we say that a person is lost?

Well did you ever wonder why seeing Jesus was so important to Zacchaeus? Why Zaccheus would go to all that trouble just to catch a glimpse of Jesus as he passed by? Was he just curious? Or did he have some secret longings that he hoped Jesus would fulfill? Did he wonder, "Can Jesus really do the things I've heard about? Can he open the eyes of the blind and make the lame walk? Is he really as good a preacher as everybody says?" Have you ever wondered what were the real reasons Zaccheus was up a tree, other than the fact that he was short?

Well, now let me ask you, have you ever been up a tree? Has there ever been a time in your life when you just didn't know which way to go? Has there ever been a time when you felt abandoned, felt alone ? Maybe a time when you felt that nobody loved you? Has there ever been a time when the problems of marriage, and/or financial difficulties made you feel like a total failure, made you feel that you were vastly inadequate, and you worried about how to cope with those problems ? If you can answer "yes" to any of those questions, and it is with most of us, then you know what it's like to be up a tree.
The world is filled with people who are up a tree. We could easily make a long list of things that turn us into tree climbers: the loss of a loved one; the breakup of a special relationship; unemployment; illness; physical or emotional abuse. The list goes on and on. There are many people up a tree today, symbolically the same as Zaccheus was on the day Jesus came to town.
Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus. When Jesus came along with his entourage, he looked up in the sycamore tree and saw Zaccheus perched on a branch.

Now we don't know how Jesus knew Zaccheus' name, but Luke says that Jesus didn't say, "Hey, you, little fellow," Jesus called Zaccheus by name and said, "Come down right now because I want to visit with you at your house."
And what do you want to bet that Zaccheus came pretty close to falling out of that tree when Jesus called his name and told him to come down? I'll bet he scrambled down that tree trunk like a squirrel after an acorn! Surely he never expected this to happen! Here was Jesus himself, the man who was surrounded by admirers, recognizing him, Zacchaeus, instead of all the others who were there. Here was the popular Jesus calling him down from the tree and not being ashamed to let everyone know he was going home with him - a short, hated tax collector!

Why, Zaccheus must have been thrilled. But the townspeople were not. Bible says that all who saw it began to grumble saying, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner."
Zaccheus came down from the tree, took Jesus home with him, and in the course of the conversation, he confessed his sins to Jesus. He didn't hold anything back; he told it all. And then he made a promise to Jesus, purely voluntary, with no prompting. Zaccheus said, "I'm going to give half of everything I own to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I will repay them four times the amount I took."

And what was Jesus response to this confession and promise to sin no more ? "Today, salvation has come
to this house, because you also are a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save THE LOST."

Glory, halalewya. Wonderful Words of Life. Jesus is salvation. Salvation it'self walked into Zacchaeus home. Why did Jesus go home with Zacchaeus ? He was there for two reasons. 1) Because Zacchaeus was a sinner. 2) And most importantly, to offer salvation to Zacchaeus because he was willing to change; was willing to acknowledge and confess his sins.

Many nice respectable Americans don't talk about sin, judgment, or hades. Why? Because they are post-modern. Most Americans read the Bible selectively, omitting those parts they don't like. The first thing many modern day churchgoers throw out is the concept of hades, because a nice, well-behaved God wouldn't let anybody go to that bad place. But result is that after you reject there is a hades, you begin to lose a sense of sin. If there is no punishment, what does sin matter ?

Nobody is guilty of anything anymore. Everybody is just a victim. Finally, the call to repent has no meaning. Dr. Calvin Miller of the Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham claims that instead of repenting we play a nice little game entitled, "It's not all that bad." He relates that couples living together, social drinking, little white lies, are said to be, "not all that bad." Thus, we live in a state of denial.

When Charlie Brown did something wrong, he felt humility. But when Bart Simpson does something wrong, he feels entitlement. What a huge moral slippage this reveals in our culture. Jesus message of good news always began with the word "repent." "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Jesus bragged on a notorious sinner, a tax collector, because he uttered this simple prayer, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." A prayer of repentance always rings bells in heaven. (Luke 18:10-14) The greatness of Zacchaeus was that he knew how to repent, how to say, "I'm sorry." All of us can be forgiven, if we are humble enough to say, "I'm sorry" to our Lord."

Do you realize that over in Matthew, Mark and in Chapter 11 of Luke, Pharisee sinners came to Jesus. One even invited Jesus to dine with him. But Jesus did not offer any of them salvation. Why ? Because they were self-righteous. They were not ready to admit nor confess sins. They did not feel they were all that bad. But you know what Jesus told them, "Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it."
Zacchaeus repented. He felt that Jesus was his Savior and thus immediately went from being lost to being a beloved child of GOD. Immediately, he went from being up a tree, to being a blessed member of the Kingdom of GOD.

Have you heard the news? Jesus is coming to town. Salvation can come into your house. But not through any other means than repentance and acceptance of the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Friends, you may be up a tree. You may be surrounded by people but feel alone. You may be stooped over from carrying life's problems. Let me tell you something of which you may not be aware. When you don't have a right relationship with GOD and Jesus, then all other relationships will go wrong.

Get down out of that tree and take Jesus home with you. Immediately, you will find that salvation has come into your house.

AMEN