We are excited to announce some new features to the blogsite. As more and more readers are viewing from foreign countries we have added the translate feature to the site. Our readers can also now choose to have the blog emailed to them, and they can search the blog by keywords on various topics. We hope that this makes the site more manageable for you. God Bless.

Hear current audio messages by Pastor Scott Burr at:
http://sermon.net/dayspringchurchag

Thursday, December 29, 2011

“Picture Perfect Christmas?”

“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Luke 1:26-28

Like most newly engaged couples, I imagine that Joseph and Mary had dreams and plans for their life together. I’m sure they talk about things like…Where they would live and how many kids they would have. Everything seemed picture perfect!

Even the birth of their first child is captured in serene perfection. Just look at any Nativity Scene and you will see an adoring mother, precious baby, proud father, astonished shepherds and worshipping wise men. A picture perfect first Christmas filled with love, angelic worship, peace on earth, and the priceless gift of salvation.

All true and very wonderful because that is how we have crafted it to look. Unfortunately we have romanticized the reality out of the first Christmas which, in turn, has crippled many people’s ability to experience the “Merry” in Christmas.

Unlike the traditional Nativity Scene, most of our Christmases are not peaceful and serene and, if I could be so bold to say it, neither was the very first one. That loving couple adoring the child in the manger in all of our Nativity scenes, just a few months before that moment, were on the verge of divorce!

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

Matthew 1:18-19

Although we know that the angel Gabriel came to Joseph and assured him of God’s plan, they still had to contend with friends and family who assumed Mary had been acting immorally and got pregnant by someone other than Joseph. There was real stress in their relationship. Not the best way to start off a marriage.

Joseph and Mary eventually settle in Nazareth. Around the time when the child was to be born, the Governor called for a census of the people. Everyone was required to return to where they were born and register. Joseph was from Bethlehem approximately 80 miles away. A four day journey, over rough terrain, riding on a donkey is not ideal for a woman who is nine months pregnant.

To make matters worse, once they finally arrive in Bethlehem, there is nowhere for them to stay. The inn is full, and no one has room to take them in. They are forced to stay in a stable. Conditions were “less” than favorable. No doctors. No nurses. No monitoring devices. Not hot water. No blankets, just dirt, hay and smelly animals. Not the picture perfect place or way to bring a child into the world.

To make matters worse, after the wise men come to worship the newborn king. Joseph, Mary and Jesus are forced to flee for their lives to Egypt:


“When Herod realized he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under; in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”

Matthew 2:16

On top of their lives being at risk, Joseph lost his job. They lost their home. They were separated from their family and friends. This is not the picture perfect way to end the story of Christmas. There are no Christmas cards bearing these images, no songs written commemorating these events, no nativity scenes based on this part of the story. Why? Because we CHOOSE not to focus on the hardships, difficulties and negatives surrounding Christ’s birth and have chosen to focus on the blessings of Christ!

You may be going through some trials, hardships and difficulties too right now, if so, it seems to me you are in good company. The question is, will you choose to focus on the hardships or will you choose to focus on the blessings of Christ.

In the end, situations and circumstances may not be perfect, but Christ remains the same. If you keep your eyes fixed on Him you will have “Merry” Christmases year after year.

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

“Temple or Marketplace?”

(Part 3)

“But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”
John 2:21-22

How many know that there is a difference between Wal-Mart and church? Wal-Mart is designed to be a marketplace. It is designed to display goods, promote products and facilitate purchases. Its doors open wide to everyone and everything is fair game to be exchanged. Church, on the other hand is designed for worshipping God, receiving His Word, and engaging His presence.

As temples of the Holy Spirit we were not designed to be a marketplace! We were created to house the presence of God. Everything is not fair game and not everything should be let in. Interestingly enough, Wal-Mart isn’t opposed to God. It is willing to give Him an end-cap with all the rest of the things inside. However, we were not created to give God an end-cap in our lives. We were created to be a “house of prayer” engaging the presence and person of God. Unfortunately, many people have a marketplace mentality, allowing anything and everything into their lives. Like Jesus, we must recognize the need to drive some things out of the temple area!

Jesus’ frustration that day was not in what He found in the Temple. He was angry that it had not been driven out already by those who were responsible for the Temple! The high priests were responsible for what came into the temple courts and the activities that took place there. You are the high priest of this Temple. You are responsible for what takes place in these Temple courts. If Jesus, came to the temple today and stood at the doorpost of your heart, would he hear the sound of worship, prayer and praise or would he hear “Hi, Welcome to Wal-Mart”?

Jesus is passionate about this! He cleansed the temple, not once, but twice; once early in his ministry (after the miracle in Cana) and again at Passover, three years later just before His crucifixion. Cleansing our Temple is not a one-time event, but it is a daily discipline of a God-honoring life!


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

“Temple or Marketplace?”

(Part 2)

“So Jesus made a whip out of cords and drove them all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. To those selling the doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s House into a market!”

John 2:15-16

As Jesus’ disciples watched this, they remembered Psalm 69:9 describing the coming Messiah- “Zeal for Your House consumes me!” However, as the disciples were connecting Jesus with scripture, the religious were becoming infuriated. They loathed the fact that this man was challenging the way there were conducting themselves. They demanded Jesus to give them a miraculous sign to prove He had the authority to do and say such things! Jesus’s answer:

“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”- John 2:19

The Jews denounced him saying, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple and you are going to raise it in 3 days?” However, the temple he spoke of was his body! Jesus referred to His body as the Temple of God. Did you know that your body is the Temple of God according to Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:16 states that “We are the temple of the living God.”, 1 Corinthians 3:16 declares that “You yourselves are God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you.”, and 1 Corinthians 6:19 affirms that
“Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.”

Scripture is clear that you are the Temple of God. The question is, “How zealous are you for the House of God?” If Jesus were to come into the Temple, what would He find? Like the temple in Jesus’ day, this temple (your body) is designed to be a house of prayer, a place of holiness, a place where the Presence of God resides. Have we exchanged the truth of God for a lie? Have we compromised our faith for a comfortable lifestyle? Have we bought into the world system or sold our souls for wealth, power and influence. Have we made ourselves a marketplace rather than a temple?



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

“Temple or Marketplace?”

(part 1)

“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.”
John 2:13-14


The Passover celebration was one of the most holy feasts celebrated by the people of Israel. It dated back to the days of Moses, when God delivered the children of Israel out of the hands of Pharaoh. During the feast, the blood of a lamb was shed and its blood applied to the doorposts of their homes. That evening when the death angel passed by, he would see the blood and “Passover” that home.

Passover was one of three feasts God commanded the Israelites they were to celebrate at the “place of His choosing.” In Jesus’ day, that place was at the temple in Jerusalem. So Jesus traveled from Capernaum to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast.

Upon reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and found men selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were exchanging money. John tells us that a holy indignation rose up inside of Him! What once stood as a place of prayer, the place where the presence of God resided, a place of reverence and sacrifice, a place holy unto God; was now nothing more than a marketplace!

What is a marketplace? It is where things are bought and sold, where ideas are exchanged, compromises made and bartering done. There was once a time when the bleating cries of the lambs coming from the temple meant something. It weighed in the hearts of the people as they came to worship the God of Israel who had delivered them out of the bondages of Egypt, but the people had lost sight of God in their lives.
They began to exchange the truth of God for a lie, compromise their faith, buy into the world system and sell their souls for wealth, power and influence. The sounds coming from the temple courts now sounded more like a circus than a sanctuary.


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 24, 2011

“Sacred Marriage: A Mirror on Sin”

(part 2 of 2)

“Sin never seems quite as shocking when it is known only to us; when we see how it looks or sounds to another; it is magnified ten times over.”

Gary Thomas

A single person can hide bad habits, personal failures, and a sinful lifestyle by simply removing themselves from certain situations and people. Married couples do not have that luxury, but they do have a tremendous opportunity. Marriage, unlike many relationships, provides us with the occasion to guide our spouse into imitating the character of Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 states:

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Possessing the knowledge of someone’s sin is a powerful and dangerous thing. That knowledge can be used to crush, humiliate or gain power over our spouse or it can be used to nurture and guide them to spiritual health. If managed correctly marriage can be a powerful tool to our growing in holiness. It creates a context (safe place) for us to face our own weaknesses and deal with sin. It gives us the opportunity, daily, to build up another person. This, however, can only be done if we are conscientious of our own sin. Matthew 7:5 instructs us to:

“First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

I recently read that couples don’t fall out of love as much as they fall out of repentance. Sin, wrong attitudes, and personal failures that are not dealt with will slowly erode a relationship. When those attitudes and behaviors begin to surface the temptation will be to try and hide them from your spouse.

However, let me encourage you to consider that God gave you, your spouse to recognize those flaws and spur you toward greater maturity and holiness.


(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

“Sacred Marriage: A Mirror on Sin”

(part 1 of 2)

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sowed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”

Genesis 3:7


I think everyone who gets married experiences two “Adam & Eve” moments in their relationship. Like, Adam and Eve, we start out living what we believe to be the ideal relationship with the ideal person until one day our eyes are opened to just how exposed we are to this other person. In the story of Adam and Eve, everything seemed to be going good for our happy couple. Then one day their eyes were opened and suddenly they realized they were naked. Immediately they began to cover themselves and hide themselves from one another.

What was it that caused Adam and Eve’s eyes to be opened? The answer is Sin! Sin entered the world and one of the initial consequences was a breakdown in marital intimacy. As Adam and Eve’s weaknesses were uncovered, it wasn’t long before they felt funny being exposed to one another and shortly thereafter they began pointing the finger at each other.

There is nothing that opens the eyes of two people in a relationship more than when they experience or see “sin” in their spouse’s life. It isn’t difficult because we thought the person we married was “above” that, it stings because we realize if I can see that in them…they can see things in me too!

I love this quote by Gary and Betsy Ricucci taken from the book Sacred Marriage:

“One of the best wedding gifts God gave you was a full-length mirror called your spouse. Had there been a card attached, it would have said, “Here’s to helping you discover what you’re really like.”



Marriage holds up a mirror to our sin! As I gaze into the “full length” mirror called my spouse, I am forced to look at all the flaws in MY character, faced with MY own selfishness and struck by MY own poor attitudes.

Kathleen Thomas Hart wrote that, “Sometimes what is hard to take in the first years of marriage is not what we find out about our partner but what we find out about ourselves.”



(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

"Sacred Marriage-Building a Servant’s Heart”

(part 2 of 2)

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

Philippians 2:5-7

What does it mean to become “nothing”? Does it mean that we allow ourselves to be ignored, overlooked or unappreciated? No! However, true servant hood does not begin until we are willing to “make ourselves nothing.”

In Philippians 2 the phrase “made himself nothing” is translated from the Greek word- kenosis- which means to empty oneself. Jesus voluntarily laid aside His position, His glory, rights and riches. He let go of his privileges in or to be a servant to others. The idea of giving up what rightfully belongs to us in order to serve others is foreign in our cultural and is most of our marriages. How do I know? Consider this:

How many of you would drop what you are doing to go pick up a friend or family member whose car broke down, but wouldn’t miss two minutes of your favorite TV show to take the trash out for your wife?

How many of you surge into action to take your kids to dance, soccer, or band practice, but when your husband asks you for a drink of water respond… “Are your legs broke?”

To be like Christ requires us to “make ourselves nothing.” That isn’t natural. In fact, the idea of serving is almost a supernatural concept. That’s because this type of serving is sacrificial. If it doesn’t cost us something, it isn’t really a sacrifice…and I would argue is it really serving?

Gary Thomas wrote… “The beauty of marriage is that it confronts our selfishness and demands our service 24 hours a day.”


Most people do not enter marriage with the expectation of serving. For many it is a means of meeting a need in their own life which, consequently, minimizes marriage to a selfish pursuit. Marriage, more so, is a daily opportunity to put Philippians 2:3-4 into practice:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Do nothing out of selfish ambition! Look to the interest of others! Start at home! Empty yourself, so that you can be a servant to your spouse and so God may be glorified.


(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

“Sacred Marriage-Building a Servant’s Heart”

(part 1 of 2)

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God, something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
Philippians 2:3-7

Many of you have likely heard this passage of scripture before, but I wonder how often we consider it within the context of marriage. Ideas like… being a servant, looking to the interests of others and doing nothing out of selfish ambition are all honorable pursuits that Christians ought to emulate, but there is a very evident disconnect of these ideas in many marriages.

These concepts are viewed by most as a “good” rule of faith when we are at church, at work or in public settings, however many feel that when we get home, alone with our spouse, these expectations of us ought to cease…so that we can have our “me” time.

Marriage, however, was not designed for our personal gratification. In fact, marriage could easily be defined as- the giving up of one’s self. When we marry, we automatically divest ourselves of the idea of “self”:

“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.”
Genesis 2:23

The idea of two becoming one is not that one is absorbed into the other, but rather they are united together. In some marriages the dreams, desires and needs of one spouse are swallowed up by the other’s with little to no consideration given to this spouses’ needs. This type of behavior in a relationship can have a two-fold negative affect. First it can cause resentment to set in with the spouse that is feeling short-changed, but also if left unaddressed it can cause the offending spouse to become self-absorbed further alienating themselves from their mate.


Let me be the first to say that God did not bring Eve to Adam to cater to Adam’s every whim and desire! He brought Eve to Adam so that the two of them together could bring glory to God’s Name by helping one another according to His will.





(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

“Sacred Marriage-Honor & Respect"

(part 2 of 2)

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

Romans 12:10

The problem we often face, in regard to honor in marriage, is that the more familiar we become with others weaknesses and failures, the harder it is for us to show respect. In fact, the more we focus on these weaknesses, the easier it is for contempt to set in. Showing respect is an act of maturity on the part of a believer that understands the work of grace in people’s lives.

Respect- focuses on the fact that people are created in God’s image and likeness and consequently looks for evidences of God’s grace.

Contempt- focuses only on the weaknesses and failures of others.

Respect requires much more on an effort on our part. Unfortunately many people find it easier to develop contempt for those who do not respect them than it is to build a life worthy of gaining it.

In marriage, if we are quick to point out our spouse’s flaws and slower to recognize their strengths…they will certainly not feel respected. If I am quick to point out my spouse’s flaws and never honor them…they will certainly feel contempt.

Gary Thomas wrote: “Contempt is born when we fixate on our spouse’s weaknesses. Every spouse has these sore points. If you want to find them, without a doubt you will. If you want to obsess about them, they’ll grow-but you won’t!”

God’s expectation for us to honor and respect is counter-cultural to say the least:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Philippians 2:3-4

Respect takes into consideration that we were all created in God’s image and likeness. We were created with tremendous potential. Loved by God! And although we may not agree with people’s decisions we can respect their person (dignity, emotions and liberties). If there is a lack of honor and respect in your home can I leave you with this thought taken from Luke 6:38:

“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”


(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com960/

Thursday, October 20, 2011

“Sacred Marriage-Honor & Respect”

(part 1 of 2)

“However, each one of you also must love his wife, as he loves himself, and the wife must RESPECT her husband.”
Ephesians 5:33

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with RESPECT…”
1 Peter 3:7

God’s Holy Word has a lot to say about respect! Leviticus tells us to respect our parents and the elderly. Malachi tells us to respect God and His Name. Ephesians 6:5 tells us to respect our masters (employers). Ephesians and 1Peter tell us to respect our spouses. Ultimately, 1 Peter 2:17 sums it up nicely:

“Show proper respect for everyone.”

I don’t think I have ever met anyone who doesn’t want to be respected. Yet, respect in our society and in many of our homes is a rare commodity. Husbands and wives, alike, want to be respected. Therein lies the struggle! When we have people, who live in close relationship, each focused on “receiving” respect, it is inevitable that they are going to hurt one another. Our failure is that we have become so focused on “receiving” it that we have overlooked the two most important aspects of it- gaining it and giving it!

I have found, in my life, that if I am not respected it is usually because I am failing in one of these two areas, both of which are dependent on my response. If I am not respected in my marriage, by my children, or in my community, it is usually not because people are withholding it from me. I am not respected because I have not gained it or given it!

The problem with “gaining it” is that it takes work! How many know it is easier to receive your paycheck that it is to earn it! Respect is gained as we live lives pleasing to the Lord:

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Respect is not built on a one-time event but garnered by living a consistent life.
However, this is only half the equation. We also fail to receive respect when it is evident that we do not “give” or “show” it to anyone else. Often, the reason we do not show proper respect is because we have taken on the responsibility of determining who “deserves it”!

Respect is defined as being “deserving” of high regard. The question then is “Who gets to determine who is deserving of it?” Does the person giving it determine who is worthy of it? Does the person wishing to receive it get to determine if they are worthy of it? According to 1 Peter 2:17, God says that everyone should be shown proper respect! This means that our directive to “show respect” is not contingent on what others are doing to earn it!

(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

“Sacred Marriage-Forgivness”

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Colossians 3:12-13


There may be no spiritual discipline harder to learn in our Christian walk than the ability to forgive. Even though, it is fundamental in our salvation and at the very root of our faith, forgiveness proves to be difficult to extend to those who have hurt us. Yet, God instructs us to “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Over the last couple of weeks we have been exploring how God uses the marriage relationship to build His character in us. We began by looking at love and what love really is. Today we will focus our attention on forgiveness.

Forgiveness, like love, is not an emotion. Forgiveness is an action. An action, that daily, we must choose to exercise. Marriage provides the perfect setting to develop in the discipline of forgiveness.

Sin in marriage (on both the husband’s and wife’s part) is a daily reality, an ongoing struggle that holds many couples in bondage. Those “seemingly perfect people we marry” will eventually hurt us, sometimes even on purpose, making forgiveness a necessity in our marriage relationships.

Forgiveness, simply stated, is to “cancel a debt.” It is to release someone from having to pay what they owe you. Matthew 18:21-35 gives us a vivid picture of forgiveness from this perspective. One day the Apostle Peter came to Jesus and asked him, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-time seven times.”

I think I like this passage so much because it communicates the difficulty of forgiveness right from the beginning. Peter wants to know where the “forgiveness” line is drawn. How many times must I forgive them? If we are honest with ourselves, we all enter into relationships with an idea of how much we are willing to take from this person. If I only see someone once a year at a family reunion, the threshold is set pretty low. Those we love deeply, we will set the threshold a little higher… “Up to seven times!” Even then we limit our forgiveness!


Jesus, however, put no boundaries on His forgiveness. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:8 that “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” He chose to forgive us when we at our very worst! When humanity was at its worst…crucifying Him, mocking Him, and despising His very name. He cried out in Luke 23:24: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

In marriage, we have the opportunity to see the very best in a person. We also have the opportunity to see the very worst. So we must settle the issue of forgiveness in our hearts right from the beginning. We must choose daily to “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 29, 2011

“Sacred Marriage-Love”

(part 2 of 2)

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.”

1 John 4:7

Many people get distraught in their marriages because they equate love with their emotions. When they read in Scripture that we are to “love one another”, “love our spouse” and even “love our enemies” they become discouraged because they cannot seem to manufacture the emotion of love towards that person.

However, when God instructed us to love one another, He did not intend for us to attempt to manufacture an emotion. He intended for us to choose to sacrifice.

“My command is this, ‘Love each other as I have loved you.”

John 15:12

How is it that Jesus Christ demonstrated his love for us?

“Greater love has no one than this, than he lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:13

As I read this, I am convinced that to “lay down one’s life” has deeper implications than to merely “die” for someone. To lay one’s life down suggests that I am willing in a moment to lay aside my will, my needs, and my desires and choose to sacrifice for another regardless of the personal cost to me.

Marriage provides us with these moments every day. Times I must choose to love when my spouse doesn’t reciprocate love towards me. Times I must choose to love when my spouse’s actions, attitudes and words have hurt me. Times I must choose to love when the “emotional idea” of love has waned and I am left feeling alone and disconnected.

Beyond our relationship with God, there are few relationships, like marriage, that require a 24 hour a day, seven days a week commitment. It would seem that maintaining such a discipline would be impossible. However, Romans 5:5 tells us that:

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”


Every one of us is created with the capacity to “love”! Marriage provides us with daily opportunities to demonstrate love towards our spouse. In doing so, we draw closer to our spouses and closer to God.


(This marriage series was developed from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 22, 2011

“Sacred Marriage-Love”

(part 1 of 2)

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery- but I am talking about Christ and the Church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
Ephesians 5:32-33


It is evident from this passage that the context of marriage was given to us by God to teach us truth. So often times we view marriage as simply, a framework for family, but marriage is a teacher! Marriage gives us opportunity, through close relationship, to develop and demonstrate Godly character. It teaches us how to love, respect others, address sin, exercise forgiveness, and serve. Marriage is about spiritual growth.

Over the past couple of months, the marriage home groups at our church have been utilizing a book by Gary Thomas called “Sacred Marriage.” The premise of the book is- “What if God designed marriage to make us Holy more than to make us happy?” What if God’s divine purpose for marriage was to build His character into our lives, so that every trial, joy, apprehension, and victory we face as a couple draws us closer to God?

Over the next few weeks we are going to look at a few of the things that marriage can teach us, which will not only result in a better marriage, but also develop the character of God in us.

So let’s start in Matthew 22:37-40:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commands.”

It is clear from Matthew 22 that God desires for us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. It is also obvious that He desires for us to love those we are in close relationship with. So how does marriage teach us to love?

First let’s define “love”. The world defines love as an intense feeling of deep affection, an infatuation, a fleeting emotion.” However, scripture does not equate love with a fleeting emotion. It presents love as a divine attribute of God:

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:8

God is not temporal and God is certainly not fleeting, which means that real love is not meant to be temporal or fleeting. John goes on to describe what true love looks like:

“This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
1 John 4:10

Love is a choice. It is choosing to sacrifice for another individual regardless of the personal cost to you. It is not driven by emotion, but by being in a relationship with “Love” Himself!

(This marriage series was devoloped from principles taken from the book “Sacred Marriage” by author Gary Thomas.)


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 15, 2011

“As We Stand Warming Ourselves”

“It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around the fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them warming himself.”
John 18:18

After Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was bound and taken to the High Priest. Peter lingered in the shadows following the soldiers and religious leaders as they led Jesus into the courtyard and shut the gate.

When Peter came to the gate, the girl on duty asked him:

“You are not one of his disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.”
John 18:17

After denying being one of his disciples, Peter made his way over to the fire where he stood with those who were warming themselves. Bound, like a common criminal, Jesus was interrogated by the officials regarding His disciples and His teaching. He was ridiculed and struck in the face as Peter “stood warming himself”.

Peter’s denial led him down a dangerous path. Like Peter, once you “deny” Jesus you will begin to gravitate toward that which makes you comfortable. Peter could of stayed in the shadows, but rather chose to stay warm, even if it compromised his identity. Once he began to cater to his “comfort”, it was not long before he found himself standing with those who opposed Jesus. A careful reading of Scripture does not indicate that he joined them in verbally condemning Jesus, however regardless of what he said or did not say…he was with them! And the longer that you stand with them, the easier it becomes to deny him.

“As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the olive grove? Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.”
John 18:25-27

“Didn’t I see you with him?” is such a telling question. In the Book of Acts, the religious leaders of their day commented that the disciples where “unschooled, ordinary men, but they took note that they had been with Jesus.” The very thing that would later set them apart, Peter was now adamantly denying!

We should not, however, judge Peter too harshly as we consider our own track record. As the Body of Christ stood warming themselves…prayer was taken out of school. As we stood warming ourselves…abortion was legalized. As we stood warming ourselves…same-sex marriage was passed. As we stood warming ourselves…our military chaplains were silenced.

It is the first word of verse 19 that tears at my heart… “Meanwhile”! While he was warming himself by the fire, Jesus’ accusers went unopposed! Peter’s denial encompassed more that the words he spoke. He denied Him when he joined Jesus’ accusers around the fire. He denied Him when, as they spoke against Jesus, he remained silent.

Let us consider today if we have gravitated toward that which makes us comfortable, if we have found ourselves standing with those who oppose Him and have remained silent, and if we have found it easy to deny our faith in the face of opposition.



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 8, 2011

“The Fellowship of His Suffering”

(part 3)


“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

1 Peter 4:12-13

As I write these words, Christians and churches throughout the world are suffering under the weight of intense persecution. We have fellowshipped with them in many ways-through prayer support, by supplying food, releasing finances, and sending missions teams to encourage and build. However, at the end of the day, the genuineness of our faith is not communicated as much by what we pray or give, as it is by our willingness to share in the sufferings of Christ:

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Romans 8:17

This is what they recognized in Paul that caused them to receive him as “genuine”-
His willingness to “share in the fellowship of Jesus suffering!” They praised God because He was more than a “Christian” in name only. He put his life where his mouth is…and lived for the sake of the gospel. Paul told Timothy:

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”

2 Timothy 1:8


Paul now approached his life with a new mission:

“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering.”

Philippians 3:10

The church that he so readily persecuted had now watched Paul’s life and seen that his faith and commitment to following Christ were authentic. He was willing to go beyond the normal expressions of his faith such as praying for them, giving in the offering and breaking bread to lay down his life and suffer for the Glory of God.

I heard a story recently of a minister who asked a missionary couple of a church overseas- “How do you pray for the church in America?” The couple stumbled around for a moment before telling him… “We pray that you will experience persecution!” In large part, we are unable to identify with the Body of Christ around the world because we have never experienced or shared in the sufferings of Christ.

If we are truly going to be credible to the Body of Christ, as a whole, then we must start living our lives so that those who are “giving their lives” for the gospel will recognize the genuineness of our faith.



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Fellowship of His Suffering

(part 2)


“Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

Acts 9:19-21

Paul’s reputation as a persecutor and enemy of the faith had proceeded him. His dramatic encounter with Christ was of particular interest to the believers in the early church. Was his conversion genuine? How would they gauge his sincerity?

If Paul was going to impact the world for Jesus Christ, it was going to take more than a “little prayer at the altar” to convince those who had been giving their lives for the faith, that Paul’s faith was authentic. Although he shared in their salvation, the question would be “Would he also share in their sufferings?” That is why God told Ananias…

“I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Acts 9:16

Paul would go on to suffer much for the cause of Christ! In 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 Paul writes:

“Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”

And although, not a single one of these acts “earned” Paul his salvation, they did much to earn him credibility. For Paul wrote to the church in Galatia:

“I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. And they praised God because of me.”

Galatians 1:22-23

Paul’s transformed life caused the people to praise God! There was now adequate evidence that Paul was not simply a convert (Christian is name only), but a disciple- ready to lay down his life for Jesus Christ!



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, August 18, 2011

“The Fellowship of His Suffering”

(part 1)


“I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report, “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me.”

Galatians 1:22-24

The story of the Apostle Paul is a story of transformation. A household name among Christians today, he was also a “household name” among Christians in the early church…for entirely different reasons.

We are first introduced to Paul in Acts 7. It is the story of the stoning of Stephen. Stephen was taken before the Sanhedrin (the religious council of his day) charged with speaking blasphemy against Moses and against God. As Stephen is dragged from the city to be stoned to death, Acts 7:58-8:1 tells us that the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. Prior to his conversion Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus.

Fueled by Stephen’s death, Saul began going from house to house in search of Christians, dragging off men and women and putting them in prison (Acts 8:3). We catch up with him again in Acts 9:1-2:

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them prisoners to Jerusalem.”

Ignited by misguided passion, confidence in the flesh and new found authority from the religious leaders of his day, Paul blazes off for Damascus, when on his way, he has an encounter with Jesus:

“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you Lord? Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Paul was led by the hand to Damascus and for three days was blind and did not eat or drink anything. Then the Lord spoke to a man by the name of Ananias to go and pray for Paul. Ananias, knowing who and why Paul was coming to Damascus, responded:



“I have heard may reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
Acts 9:13-14


God instructs Ananias to go. He tells him that Paul has been chosen to carry God’s name to the Gentiles and the people of Israel. He leaves Ananias with these words:

“I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Acts 9:16



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, August 11, 2011

“Mobilizing the People of God”

(part 3)

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Mark 16:15-18

How many of us have heard that Scripture preached and taught in churches, Sunday school classes and small groups around the world? Denominations have built their core beliefs around it, churches have split over it, books have been written to analyze it…but WHO’S DOING IT? I think part of the problem is we don’t finish reading what happened after Jesus said this:

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs and that accompanied it.”

Mark 16:19-20

Like a general commanding His troops, Jesus directed His disciples to engage the battle. The disciples went out and preached everywhere! As I thought about Jesus commanding His disciples, it made me think about how generals will often visit the staging areas, before major conflicts, to encourage the soldiers about to be deployed. I thought, what if, after one of General Patton or General MacArthur’s stirring speeches, the soldiers would have got up, came by shook their hand and said “Good message today General. Very thought provoking. Can’t wait to hear the rest next week.” …but never engaged the battle! Isn’t that what we are precisely seeing in churches today all over America!

We like coming to the staging area to see everyone, listen to the music, be encouraged by the speeches, but very few are engaging the battle! We have gone AWOL (absent without leave)! AWOL is a military acronym that simply means not being where you are supposed to be at the time you are supposed to be there! We have been given our orders by our commander and chief- Jesus Christ and yet, we hide within the confines of our churches.

That isn’t the way it is in real life. In real life, every individual who arrives in the staging area has one thing on their mind…the mission! They know that they are about to engage the enemy. When we come together, we ought to have one thing on our minds…to proclaim the glory of God to the ends of the earth, engaging peoples, tribes and nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You have been commissioned! Go into all the world and share the good news about Jesus Christ!



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 28, 2011

“Mobilizing the People of God”

(part 2)

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20


It is called “The Great Commission”! To be commissioned, like a ship, means that the vessel is placed into a state of readiness for service. Ships that are commissioned for service do not sit dry-docked in the shipyard! They are sent out! These great vessels were constructed to do a “work.” They were designed to carry people and resources all over the world! Like these mighty ships, we too were created to carry something to the whole world… the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were created to do a work:

“In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and send them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.”
Acts 13:1-5

Everyone of you has a “work” to which God has called you! It may be serving in the nursery at your church, volunteering at a local food bank, or taking the gospel to the jungles of Ecuador. I cannot tell you where God is sending you, but I can tell you what God has NOT called you to do. God has not called you to go week after week and occupy a pew in your church and never “go” and “make disciples”.

We have made church so comfortable and entertaining that no one wants to leave. Wonderful music, air conditioned sanctuaries, and padded seats are all designed to make those that come in comfortable. Our thinking is…“If we make them feel comfortable here, then they will stay”! Then we preach comfortable messages so that they will come back week after week. We’ll even talk about the importance of the Great Commission and reaching people for Christ as we watch the drama team perform a wonderful illustrated message.

The church, today, looks more like a “staged area” than a staging area. I like to watch the home improvement shows on television and one of things they do to sell somebody on a house is “stage it”. To stage a home is to set it up to make it appear someone lives there. Likewise, we are staging our churches to look like we care about people and taking the Gospel to the nations, when in reality, we are not “going” anywhere! If we are truly going to be Great Commission churches then we must be busy equipping people, training them and sending them out in obedience to God’s Word!

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

“Mobilizing the People of God”

(part 1)

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and knowledge of the son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:11-13

Often times when these verses are studied much of the emphasis is placed on the offices of the apostles, prophets, evangelist, teacher and pastor. Known as the five-fold ministry, entire books highlighting their roles and responsibilities have been written discussing the necessity of these offices in the local church. So much emphasis has been given to them that they have inadvertently become the focal point of the passage. However, upon careful reading, the true focal point of the passage is “God’s people”!

In Ephesians 4, Paul is addressing not the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers of Ephesus, but rather he is addressing the “body”! Paul urges them to live a life worthy of the calling and encourages them to keep the unity of the Spirit. In order to help them accomplish this God gave them apostles- to set things in order, provide oversight, and safeguard the integrity of Scripture; evangelists- to awaken their faith and proclaim the Good News; prophets- to expose sin, proclaim righteousness, and combat worldliness; pastors- to care for their spiritual needs; and teachers-to expound the Word of God. Each set in place for a common purpose which is to “prepare God’s people for works of service.”

Their function is to train and equip God’s people to be released into ministry. Apostles, evangelist, prophets, pastors and teachers are given to mobilize the people of God to proclaim the Glory of God to all nations. It is that very concept that has seemed to escape us! Paul saw the church as a staging area- equipping and releasing people, finances and resources into the mission field to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The church was fluid and mobile, where in contrast, the church today has become a fixture…a fortress!

Fortresses are permanent. They are stationary structures with thick walls to keep the enemy at bay. They contain all the weapons needed inside, but they are only used to defend those inside its walls and keep the enemy out. The church, in America, has become like a fortress. We have become immovable. We contain all the weapons and resources needed to storm the gates of hell, but most of it remains resting comfortably within the four walls of the church.

The church, however, was not designed to be a fortress, but a staging area! By definition a staging area - is where vehicles, supplies, equipment and people are assembled for use! Everything that comes into the staging area is intended to be used in the mission. Our mission, as the body of Christ, is to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth…and everything in the “staging area” is intended to be used in the mission. Staging areas are not designed to be dwelling places. They are temporary by nature. It is where everything goes to receive its instruction…its operational assignment. Then it is “sent out” to be used in the mission!

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 21, 2011

“The Samson Syndrome”

(part 3)

“Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.”

Judges 16:21

Too many of us, like Samson, are dabbling in sin…knowing that it is crouching at the door, desiring to have us, desiring to destroy our lives. Samson knew that Delilah wanted to know “how he could be subdued!” Yet, He believed He could overcome his enemies, because He had done it before! He confused God’s power with his own strength and found himself in bondage!

Sin is a wicked taskmaster. It blinds us to the truth, shackles us to shame and imprisons us in guilt! Regardless of how harmless it may appear, sin is bent on destroying our lives. Samson was not taken into captivity by Delilah’s deception, he was dragged away by his own sinfulness:

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

James 1:14-15

His enemies gloated and rejoiced over his demise. They held a great sacrifice to their god and had Samson brought out in order make a public spectacle of him. Humiliated and left grinding in a prison, Samson’s story of compromise, failure and bondage could equally describe many of us today. Samson’s story would be heart wrenching if not for this verse found in Judges 16:22:

“But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.”

Samson’s hair began to grown back! The very thing that he had compromised in order to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season began to return to him. This time, however, he did not trust in it’s strength. Instead, as he was led out in front of the shouting Philistine crowd, he lifted his head toward heaven and prayed:

“O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

Judges 16:28

Samson, with a repentant spirit, acknowledged that the secret of his strength was never his hair, but his God! Renewed in his faith, Samson recaptured his convictions. Be encouraged! God is calling you to break the Samson Syndrome! If you will cry out to God, He will give you strength so that you will not be “tired to death” by sin’s persistence. If you call on Him, He will give you the strength to get up out of “Delilah’s lap!” You may feel that what you have done is unforgivable. You may feel that you have shattered your faith beyond repair! Maybe your enemies are gloating over your demise…but if you will repent and turn back to God you too can recapture your convictions!

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 14, 2011

“The Samson Syndrome”

(part 2)

“Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.”
Judges 16:19

How did this man set apart unto God and empowered by the Holy Spirit end up with his head in the lap of sin being lulled to sleep by worldly compromise? Be certain that it did not happen overnight! I think, like Samson, each of us fall into the trap of thinking, “If I do enough things right, I don’t have to address the things that are wrong!” Although Samson obeyed the voice of the Lord in regards to fermented wine not touching his lips and the razor not touching his head…He wasn’t truly living a sanctified life:

“Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “ I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.” His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all or people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”
Judges 14:1-3

Although Samson was diligent about keeping the Nazarite vow, he was not so diligent in following God’s law. Deuteronomy 7:3 instructed the Israelites not to intermarry with those around them “for they will turn your sons away from following me”, however it did not dissuade him from wanting a Philistine woman for his wife. Samson dishonored his parents by disregarding their instruction. Judges 16:1-2 tells us that he was driven by lust and frequented prostitutes, until once again he found himself in the arms of another Philistine woman.

It was a life of gradual compromise that led him to be “lulled to sleep.” He trusted that as long as the Spirit of the Lord was coming upon him…he must be o.k. with God. Until…

“He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”

Judges 16:20

It is what I like to call the Samson Syndrome! When we get so comfortable with our heads in the “lap of sin”, that we will compromise even our deepest convictions. Samson had done a lot of things, but he had not EVER cut his hair! Yet, after years of compromise, in a state of being “tired to death”, he sacrificed one of his life long convictions. Like Samson, many Christian people today are being lulled to sleep in the lap of Delilah, not realizing that she is stealing their strength (the presence of the Lord in their lives). Too many of us, like Samson, are dabbling in sin…knowing that it is crouching at the door, desiring to have us, desiring to destroy our lives. Samson knew that Delilah wanted to know how he could be subdued! Yet, He believed He could overcome his enemies, because He had done it before! He confused God’s power with his own strength and found himself in bondage!



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 7, 2011

“The Samson Syndrome”

(part 1)

“Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because they boy is to be a Nazarite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:4-5

From the moment of his birth God intended Samson to be a Nazarite. The word Nazarite is derived from the Hebrew word ‘Nazar’ which means to “set apart.”
A Nazarite was an individual raised up by God whose life would be a demonstration to others of the highest level of holiness, purity and dedication to the Lord.

Samson was to be a picture of a sanctified life. From the time he was a child, no fermented juice touched his lips and no razor touched his head. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he did many exploits for the Lord. He tore a lion apart with his bare hands and struck down a thousand Philistines with nothing but the jawbone of a donkey. The Philistines were desperate to know the secret of his strength. Which brings us to Judges 16! The story of Samson and Delilah:

“Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

Judges 16:4-5

Three times Delilah attempts to lure him into a trap. She asked him, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” She didn’t even try and conceal what she wanted. She was brazen in her approach and for a time Samson alluded her. However, her repeated efforts began to take their toll on Samson:

“With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.”

Judges 16:16

Ultimately he told her everything! He told her about his Nazarite vow and how no razor had ever touched his head and when Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the Philistines. She then coaxed Samson to sleep in her lap:




“Having put him to sleep in her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.”

Judges 16:19

How did this man, set apart unto God and empowered by the Holy Spirit, end up with his head in the lap of sin being lulled to sleep by worldly compromise?



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, June 23, 2011

“Sins’ Shame”

(part 3)


“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?”
1 Corinthians 5:1-2

In 1 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul is forced to address a situation affecting the church in Corinth. A grievous sin has been exposed within the church that the believers in Corinth have failed to address. Paul rebukes them for their lackadaisical attitude towards the issue and admonishes them to put this man out of the fellowship because of his lack of repentance:

“When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 5:4-5

Did this man create his own problem? Absolutely! Was his sin exposed? Yes! Was he repentant? Well, no…not at first. In fact, after his sinful behavior was known, he continued in his sin, and the church did not do anything to confront him. As I shared before, you cannot deal with the issue of shame until you deal with the problem of sin. This man felt no shame over his sin and so he continued in it. So, just as God put Adam and Eve out of the Garden…Paul admonished them to put this man out of the fellowship. They could not allow his sinful behavior to infect the body of Christ:

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast- as you really are.”
1 Corinthians 5:6-7

However, Paul leaves the door open for restoration. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes to them about how they should respond when someone they have had to discipline repents:

“If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent-not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”
2 Corinthians 2:5-8
Forgive! Comfort! Reaffirm your love! These words are blankets of grace that need to be cast over many hurting people. People who are living lives “overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” Consider today what you can do to help someone whose sin has long been atoned for, but is still steeped in shame.


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

“Sins’ Shame”

(part 2)


“But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
Genesis 3:9-11

As Adam and Eve stood before the Lord, the first thing God did was address their disobedience. God had given them specific direction to “not” eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The shame they were experiencing was the result of the sin that now exposed them. However, you cannot deal with the shame if you have not yet first dealt with the sin. God takes time in Genesis 3:14-20 to reprove Adam, Eve and the serpent, but once He had addressed their sinful behavior, He then addressed their shame:

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”

Genesis 3:21

God would not allow them to remain exposed! Some of you need encouraged today regarding the shame that you still bear. You have allowed God to deal with your sin, but have not allowed Him to cover your shame. You have confessed your sins, repented and received His forgiveness, but are being eaten alive by shame. Funny thing about shame, it seems to linger around long after the sin has been atoned for. And sadly enough I think that it is our fault as a body of believers.

In Genesis 9 we read the story of Noah. Noah had come out of the ark, after the flood, and began the task of rebuilding:

“Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he had drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered (exposed) inside his tent.”

Genesis 9:21 (parenthesis mine)

The hard truth of the matter is that Noah got drunk and ends up passed out lying “exposed” in his tent. Scripture documents the event, however, it does not defend Noah’s behavior. Noah’s sin and exposure are his own doing and that should be rightly noted.

Then Noah’s son, Ham, enters the tent and sees his father’s nakedness. Ham leaves the tent and immediately tells his brothers’ what he has seen. Upon hearing this, Shem and Japheth take a garment and lay it across their shoulders. They turned their faces and walked backwards into the tent and covered their father’s nakedness. People, today, are reluctant to confess their sins and are terrified of being exposed because they do not know if who they are telling is a Ham or a Shem.

Ham immediately rushed out and told the first two people he saw!
He was more concerned about telling what he had seen and heard than he was concerned about his father’s shame. Shem and Japheth, on the contrary, demonstrated the utmost respect. Knowing their father’s situation, they chose not to ignore or focus on their father’s sinfulness. His sin had already been exposed. Rather they chose to address his shame.

We are cursed today in the body of Christ with too many Hams and not enough Shems and Japheths. Noah was exposed because of his own sinfulness, however Ham’s lack of concern for His father’s shame brought greater reproach.

We must never confuse “concealing sin” with “covering shame”. Concealing sin does not bring healing instead it fosters division, disunity, and destruction. Covering shame means that the sin has been exposed…now we must restore.


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, June 16, 2011

“Sins’ Shame”

(part 1)


“O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.”

Ezra 9:6

How many of you can identify with that prayer. We all, I am certain, have things in our lives that we deeply regret, are embarrassed about, or ashamed of. Shame is defined as a painful sense of having done something wrong, improper or immodest. It has been evident in the lives of men since the moment sin entered the world. Genesis 2:25 tells us that before sin entered the world, Adam and Eve, both walked in perfect relationship with God. They walked in obedience to God’s Word and although they were fully exposed they felt no shame”

“The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

Genesis 2:25

However, after they sinned by eating off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Genesis 3:7 tells us:

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”

Upon becoming painfully aware of their nakedness, Adam and Eve’s initial response was to cover themselves. There was now something in their lives they did not wish to have exposed. So they covered themselves (hiding themselves from one another with fig leaves) and then they hid themselves from God:

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord god among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Genesis 3:8-10

Shame is always accompanied by an attempt to cover ourselves. In fact, throughout scripture, specifically the Old Testament, shame meant to “cover one’s face.” Covering one’s face is a natural response to shame. Do you remember getting into trouble as a child and when confronted about what you did wrong you “hid your face” in your hands? Psalm 44:15 says:

“My disgrace is before me all day long and my face is covered with shame.”
In those moments of painful awareness when our sin is exposed we “hide our face.”
Kid’s hide behind the curtains, in the closet or under the bed, but adults do it to. Maybe it isn’t as primitive, but we hide ourselves in busyness, work, activity, alcohol, prescription medicine…all in an attempt to conceal the pain and the shame.



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, June 9, 2011

“Believing is Seeing”

(part 2 of 2)

“Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
“You believe at last!” Jesus answered.
John 16:29-31

In John 16, Jesus reveals to His disciples that soon they will see Him no more and then after a little while they will see Him again. The disciples, perplexed by Jesus’ statement, began to ask one another about what He had said:

“They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
John 16:18

The disciples were anxious about Jesus’ remarks. They wanted to know clearly what Jesus meant when He said “soon they would see Him no more and then after a little while they would see Him again.” Where was He going? When was He coming back? What does He mean by “a little while?” Jesus perceiving their apprehension, went on to clarify His message. Like many of us, they wanted to have all the information up front before they would believe.

When Jesus had finished speaking His disciples proclaimed… “NOW we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. THIS makes us believe that you came from God.” Only after they could clearly understand what He was saying would they confess they believed. Notice that it wasn’t Jesus that caused them to believe, it what because “Now” they could see. Jesus knew that their “belief” in Him was not rooted in faith…it was rooted in sight! They only believed because it made sense to them.

However, the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1 declares:

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Faith is being able to accept in our Spirit what is undetected by our physical man. It is the kind of faith that great men and women of God were commended for in Hebrews 11:

“By faith Noah, when warned abut things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” Hebrews 11:7

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance , obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

Hebrews 11:8

In each case, the believing proceeded the seeing. If we are going to live by faith, we too have to believe if we truly want to see.



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, June 2, 2011

“Believing is Seeing”

(part 1 of 2)

“Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

Mark 15:29-32

How many of you have ever said, “I’ll believe it when I see it!” Probably everyone of us. We live in a “Seeing is believing” society, where if it cannot be verified with our senses then we have a hard time accepting it. We have been conditioned by our culture to be “sensual” allowing sight, sound, touch, taste and smell to become all the truth we need.

I came to meditate of this after asking myself, as a Christian… “Why do I believe?” The word believe means to: accept as true. So if “Seeing is believing”, then only what is seen (verified by our senses) can be accepted as true. A careful reading of the above passage, however, shows that this cannot be so:

In Mark 15:29 the people testified that they “heard” Christ’s message, but they did not accept it. In Mark 15:31 the chief priests and teachers testified that they had seen Him do miracles, yet they did not accept it! If “seeing is really believing” then why did they not accept what they had seen and heard as true.

The problem was not what they could see, hear or touch. The problem was that they did not want to accept “who” He claimed to be. So, regardless of what He did, even coming off the cross, would not have changed their minds. They would have simply asked for another sign! You cannot see your way into believing!!!

Jesus actually rebuked one of his own disciples, who refused to believe. Even after Jesus had been raised from the dead Thomas needed another sign:

“Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

John 20:24-25

A week later, Jesus came to his disciples again, this time Thomas was with them. He stood among them and said to Thomas:

“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
John 20:27

In essence, Jesus came to him and said, “Here I am Thomas… see me , hear me, touch me!” Scripture is unclear about whether Thomas even dared lay a hand on Jesus, but he did make a confession of faith saying to Him: “My Lord and my God!” However, his confession wasn’t followed by platitudes as was Peter’s confession of faith. Jesus did not say… “Good job Thomas!” Instead he told him:

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:29

Jesus words to Thomas are still as powerful today as they were 2,000 years ago…It is when we first “believe” that we begin to truly see!

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 26, 2011

“Fear Factors”

(part 2 of 2)

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am you God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

Most of us are familiar with these words spoken by the Prophet Isaiah. Words that God has been encouraging His people with since the earliest of times…
“Do not fear, for I am with you.”

More than just a statement made by a righteous God, these words are a promise made by a loving, heavenly Father. A promise that speaks of His abiding presence in our lives. Throughout the Old Testament, when facing a lack of water, a shortage of food, a devouring plague or an imposing army…God encouraged His people not to fear…because His presence would be with them. In each situation, God demonstrated that with His presence came provision, providence and protection. However, it was not simply a promise for those who lived in the times of Abraham and Moses. Jesus draws attention to it in Luke 12:29-32:

“And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”

God continues, today, to bring provision to those who make seeking Him a priority in their lives. We must learn that whether we are facing a job loss, an illness, an enemy, or uncertainty that what we need most is not a career change, a cure, deliverance, or an answer. What we need to know, above all else, is that God is with us. When we are secure in the fact that God is with us, then fear cannot maintain a place in our lives.

The other avenue by which fear finds it’s way into our hearts is when we lose perspective of our relationship to God:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine.”

Isaiah 43:1

When we fail to realize how much God loves us, how He sees us, and how He desires to respond to us as His children we open the door to fear. Fear cripples your relationship with God by separating you from Him through rejection, consequences and failure. We disengage with Him because we fear that we have displeased Him and that He will reject us. We disconnect from Him, because in our fear of displeasing Him and others, we refuse to risk failing; burying our talents and gifts; robbing the body of Christ and those around us of the blessings God has created us with. We avoid Him, because we are fearful of the consequences that our actions have created and we must eventually face.

Ultimately we just lose sight of God’s amazing love for us:

“And we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
1 John 4: 16-18

God’s love and promises are sure. He is with you! He has redeemed you! You are His! Do not fear!

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 19, 2011

“Fear Factors”

(part 1 of 2)

“What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.”

Job 3:25

What would you do, if one day you woke up and everything you feared came to pass? That is a sobering thought, but that is precisely what happened to Job. In a moment, Job lost his wealth, his source of income, his children, and his health. To make matters worse, his friends and his wife all turned against him. Job was grieving, heartbroken and in pain, but his greatest hurt was that God seemed to have abandoned him.

Job, like all of us, had played out this nightmare scenario in his mind before. It is evident in Job 3:25 that he had thought about it and came to dread the idea of any of these things happening to him. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Satan came to God and was given permission to test Job. He was not allowed to take Job’s life, but basically everything else was fair game:

“Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has and he will surely curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Job 1:8-12

Satan then methodically goes on a rampage destroying Job’s herds, wealth, children, health and relationships.

For a long time I felt like Satan was “randomly” attacking Job to try and cause him to curse God, but after reading Job 3:25 I realized that Satan was not being “random” at all! On the contrary, he was targeting Job in specific areas…areas in which he feared. Although God had given Satan permission to test Job, it was Job’s own fears that Satan used against him.

Everyone of us could probably make a list, like Job, of the things we fear. Scenarios that we have played out in our minds, a hundred times, that are crippling us emotionally, physically and spiritually! Fears, that if we allow them to, will stop us in our tracks, strip us of our confidence and leave us feeling abandoned.


However, God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. In trying to get a handle on fear, I began to reflect upon all the fears, both rational and irrational (phobias), that people struggle to overcome. When I considered them all, I began to realize that all of them stem from one of two things:

1. We have lost the inward sense of God’s presence in our lives.
2. We’ve lost perspective regarding our relationship with God.

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 12, 2011

“Dying to Live: The Resurrected Life”

(part 3 of 3)

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! “
Luke 24 1-6

As I meditated on this passage I identified a couple marks of a resurrected life that I believe are relevant for every born again child of God! The first thing that I perceived was that Jesus, after His resurrection, refused to stay among the dead! The angel asked the women… “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen!” Resurrected people don’t live in cemeteries. Although we lived among the dead at one time, God has called us by His grace out of that old life:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”

Paul goes on to say in Ephesians that God has raised us up with Christ and seated us in heavenly places! You can’t live in heavenly places if you are still trying to live among the dead! As you move away from that dead way of life you can be certain that there will be those to whom news of your “resurrection” will seem like nonsense:

“When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”

Luke 24: 9-11

It isn’t characteristic of a “dead person” to leave their tomb! That is why Peter upon hearing their words ran to the tomb. Gazing inside he saw all the things associated with a dead man… the stone, the slab, the linens, but the dead man was gone. Scripture tells us that Peter left the tomb “wondering”. You see, a resurrected life is one marked by uncharacteristic changes. A dead man is lifeless, stationary, lacks creativity and is unable to reproduce. A resurrected life looks different and acts different. A resurrected life is full of life, hope, and passion. After Jesus’ death, the disciples were locked behind closed doors when Jesus appeared to them. Luke 24:37 tells us:

“They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.”

The last picture they had of him was beaten, bloodied and hanging on a cross. They didn’t recognize him…ALIVE! Likewise, there will be lots of folks to whom news of your resurrection is going to seem like nonsense, because they only remember you as being “dead in sin”. They won’t immediately recognize the changes in you. Like Jesus, you will carry around the scars of your past life, but you will also carry with you the life that is in Him too!

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

“Dying to Live: The Crucified Life”

(part 2 of 3)

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20

Before Christ demonstrated a resurrected life, He first exemplified a crucified life. A life that we are called to imitate. What then is a crucified life? I think the passage above defines it for us best… “I” no longer live!” To live a crucified life is to die to the “I” in each of us! The “I” is that part of us only concerned about ourselves…our needs, our desires, our ambitions and our plans. Scripture calls it our old nature or the flesh! It is what Jesus went to the cross put down.

That is why the cross is such a powerful emblem. It opposes the flesh and stands in stark contrast to the “I” in each of us. The flesh doesn’t want to suffer, be inconvenienced, give up anything, or better anyone else. The cross, however, stands as a beacon of another way to live. The world, which caters to the flesh, hates the cross. The world provokes the cravings of the sinful man, enflames his lusts, and bolsters his pride:

“Do not love the world on anything in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world- the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world.”
1 John 2:15-16

All of these stand in clear contrast to the love of God demonstrated by Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. Before the cross there were only types and shadows of how we should live nestled in God’s Word, but the cross of Christ created a unmistakable distinction between the flesh and God’s will. It is why James wrote:

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes and enemy of God.”
James 4:4

There is no gray area! We cannot love the world and love God! In Galatians 5:24, the apostle Paul tells us that “Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” If your “I” has been crucified, then the world will have nothing to offer you that you want. That is how you determine what part of your “I” has yet to be crucified. What does the world have to offer that still interests you…music, movies, sex, alcohol, drugs, power, position, money?

If we truly see the crucifixion as a significant spiritual event in the life of Jesus, then we must also value the distinction it established between the things of God and the things of this world. We must no longer conform to the pattern of this world:

“Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:1-2

In light of the cross, It is time we start examining the “uncrucified” parts of our lives!



Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, April 28, 2011

“Dying to Live”

(part 1 of 3)

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Galatians 6:14

As the Body of Christ, Christians all over the world will be recognizing two major events in the life of Jesus Christ this week: His crucifixion and His resurrection. These two events though individually rich with meaning are also intimately tied together. For without the crucifixion there would be no resurrection. And without the resurrection there would be no hope! However, this connection between the two must be balanced.

A church that focuses solely on the crucifixion and Christ’s atoning for our sins will be devoid of hope as it grieves and agonizes over the price that was paid. Overcoming our flesh, rejecting worldliness, and exposing sin become the order of the day. With so much focus on sin, it is not long before they would drift into legalism.

A church, however, that focuses solely on the resurrection and the hope of eternal life would be devoid of conviction as it addresses the abundant life, the love of God, and our glorious future. Sin isn’t seriously addressed. It isn’t long before a congregation, like this, would become morally lax.

It takes both of these events to give a clear presentation of the Gospel message. The message of Christ is powerful because of the relationship between the cross and the empty tomb. To separate them cripples the effectiveness of our message. The Apostle Paul saw just how powerful each of these events were in the life of Christ. For in one breath he declares:

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
1 Corinthians 2:2

By simply subscribing to this passage of Scripture, some may believe that Paul saw this event as being “more significant” in the life of Christ than any other event. However, later in the same book Paul penned these words:

“For is the dead are not raised then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
1 Corinthians 15:16-18


Understanding the power and intimate relationship of these two events is significant in the life of a believer. The New Testament is peppered with passages proclaiming that we are to “die daily”, “take up our cross” and “crucify the flesh.” While at the same time saying… “I have come to give you life more abundantly”, “We’ve been made alive with Christ”, and “We are a new creation.”

The question then becomes… “How do we die and live at the same time?”


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, April 21, 2011

“Separating the Holy from the Common”

“So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.”

Ezekiel 42:20

At the writing of this passage, Israel had been in Babylonian captivity for 25 years. In a vision, God showed the prophet Ezekiel the dimensions of the new temple that would one day be rebuilt in Jerusalem. He showed Ezekiel the outer courts and its gates, the inner courts and its gates, the rooms to prepare sacrifices, rooms for the priests and the Temple. After describing what was inside the Temple area an angel of the Lord led Ezekiel out through the east gate and showed him the wall that surrounded it. The angel told Ezekiel that this wall is to separate the holy from the common.

Immediately after this, the glory of God came and filled the Temple. Before God filled the Temple, He made certain that the wall between the holy and the common was in place! This is a Word from the Lord to you! You are God’s Temple according to 1 Corinthians 3:16:

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

God desires to fill us with His Glory, but the wall between the holy and the common must be in place. God would not allow that which was unclean into the “inner place”. Before the Israelites were taken into captivity, the priests of Israel had forsaken this wall:

“Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”
Ezekiel 22:26

If we are going to live holy and righteous before the Lord we must maintain a wall of holiness that distinguishes between clean and unclean; the common and the holy. God would have me tell you that many of you are profaning what is holy inside of you by what you are allowing in!

Israel’s priests had forsaken the wall, they had profaned the inner courts by allowing that which was unclean and unholy inside. This grieved the heart of God and He looked for someone who would bear a burden for holiness:


“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”

Ezekiel 22:30

Our God is still looking! He is looking for a people who will once again become concerned about what is holy, build up the wall, and guard the gates. We are God’s Temple and must distinguish between the clean and the unclean, the holy and the common, if we are going to maintain our inner holiness.


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com

Thursday, April 14, 2011

"The Sign of Jonah”

“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested Him by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.” Matthew 16:1-4 Jesus had scarcely left the place where 4,000 people had been miraculously fed, when He is approached by the religious leaders of His day. These men prided themselves on being knowledgeable and made certain to express their abilities among the people. However, the one thing they could not understand and, in fact, were blinded to, was the coming of Jesus Christ. Although He came precisely as was foretold in Scripture, they did not see it. Although He did miraculous signs and wonders…healing the sick, lame, blind and deaf…they would not believe it. It did not matter how may were saved, healed, delivered or fed! They were truly not interested in the people or their needs. Even if Jesus had opened heaven itself, no sign was going to make them believe. Jesus understood this and told them that “No sign will be given you, except the sign of Jonah.” This statement should cause us to stop and think! What sign is so significant that Jesus Himself would take time to point it out? The sign of Jonah is better explained to us in Matthew 12:40: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jonah’s time spent in the belly of a huge fish was a foreshadow of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Jesus is telling them that if they are going to believe a sign, the only one that matters is that one! Believing it is critical to our salvation! Romans 10:9 declares: “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” If we do not believe that Jesus Christ was raised to life…WE ARE NOT SAVED! Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, was vomited out, and brought salvation to Nineveh. In like manner, Jesus spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, came out, and brought salvation to all mankind. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant miracle that ever happened. It is THE sign for all generations. In fact, Jesus said it is this sign that generations will stand in judgment over: “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.” Matthew 12:41 We will not be condemned over whether we believed Noah built an arc, Moses parted the Red Sea, or David slayed Goliath. We will, however, have to answer the question… “Do you believe that Jesus Christ died, was buried and after three days rose again!” Pastor Scott Burr http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com