Courageous Prayer (Pt.1)

Part 1 

“Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.” So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” So King Darius signed the law. But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.”-Daniel 6:1-10

The beauty of this passage is that the only grounds that these men could find to accuse Daniel was centered on the consistency of his prayer life! That single take away from this story challenged me in so many ways. It caused me to ask myself several question? 

Am I living a life that the only grounds by which to accuse me would be centered on the consistency of my prayer life? Is my prayer life so consistent that people would assume that if they were to search for me, at a given time, they would look for me in my prayer closet? 

Is my prayer life fueled by opposition or was it already an established pattern in my life. (Sometimes people only pray when they get pressed.) 

As we read these passages, we don’t get the impression that Daniel, upon hearing the decree, took on a militant tone. He didn’t organize a demonstration outside of the citadel or start a social media campaign blasting the administration. Instead, Daniel went home, knelt down as usual, and prayed as he always had done. Why?

Because courageous prayer is consistent prayer. The time to develop a solid prayer life is not at the onset of trouble. We need to begin now laying a foundation of consistent prayer that will carry us through those difficult moments. Did you notice it wasn’t the signing of the law that caused Daniel to go and pray! He was on his way to pray already. 

The biggest opposition that we face when it comes to prayer, is not external, it is ourselves. We make all kinds of excuses because we undervalue and underestimate the power of prayer. If we truly believed that prayer could shut the mouths of lions, we would be beating down the door of every prayer meeting we could find. But instead, we are either too tired, too busy, or too distracted to bother. 

It takes courage to be consistent. 

Scott Burr 

Dayspring Community Church 

Courageous Obedience (Pt.2)

Part 2

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”-Joshua 1:7-9

God instructed Joshua that courageous obedience would require him to study, meditate and obey the Word of God. First, God instructed Joshua to study this book of instruction continually. Study means to read with the intention of learning; to investigate and analyze. Would you say your level of engagement with God’s Word rises to the level of study? Paul, when writing to his apprentice Timothy, referred to study as rightly dividing God’s truth:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”-2 Timothy 2:15

We have each been called to be diligent in our investigation and analysis of God’s Word. We cannot lean on another person’s understanding or revelation of God’s truth. We must dig into ourselves and dissect the Word and discover its’ promises. 

Then, God instructs Joshua to meditate on His Word. To meditate means to think deeply and focus one’s mind upon. This is a continual contemplation of God’s Word in the context of our current circumstance:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”- Philippians 4:8

Mediation is the discipline of keeping God’s Word at the forefront of our hearts and minds. Meditating on God’s word helps transition us from comprehension to application, which is the final instruction God gave Joshua. 

He told Joshua that the final key to courageous obedience is put into practice those things we’ve have studied and learned: 

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”-James 1:22

Obedience isn’t fully realized until what we have studied and meditated on has been applied to our lives and lived out. When it comes to courageous obedience remember these three simple truths: 

Courageous obedience means living according to God’s Word rather than our own fleshly passions and pursuits.  

Courageous obedience means living according to God’s Word in the face of societal norms. 

Courageous obedience means living according to God’s Word although we may have to sacrifice comfort for the sake of obedience. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Courageous Obedience (Pt.1)

(Part 1)

As we began drawing to the close of 2020, I felt the Lord speak to me about 2021. As many people and churches are limping out of 2020 just happy to survive, I felt God say it is going to take tremendous courage to go where He wants to lead us over the next several months. 

He wants to move us beyond simple obedience to courageous living. If there were a theme word for the coming year for our church it would be the word Courageous. Courage, although often used interchangeably with the word brave, does carry a slightly different connotation. 

Bravery is having the strength to face danger, but courage is the ability to do something that frightens us. As I read that I knew that God was calling us deeper in life, service and worship to Him, but in order to do that we are going to have to be courageous. We are going to have to do some things that frighten us. God wants to take us to a new level of obedience, prayer, generosity, witnessing, and worship. Greater than we’ve ever experienced. However, that means we are going to have to leave behind what is familiar to experience what God has in store for us. That begins with obedience. Courageous Obedience! 

“After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.”- Joshua 1:1-6

God told Joshua, that Moses was dead and now the responsibility of leading the people was about to fall on him. He was certainly going to be facing some things he had never faced before. He was about to leave a wilderness he had spent 40 years accustomed to living in. Regardless of whether or not the conditions were ideal, he had grown accustomed to the nuances of living in the wilderness. 

He would be entering into a land, he had never lived in. He had visited it (spied it out) and believed God would give it to them, but now the reality of crossing the Jordan was on the table. I am sure there was some apprehension. Why? Because God had to reaffirm to Joshua to be strong and courageous several times. Truth is, Joshua had lots of experience assisting Moses, but never leading. He was about to step into a level of leadership that he had never experienced. That is when God makes him a promise. He promised Joshua that He would be with him as He was with Moses. 

That is where our courage finds its foundation. It is found in the promise that God will be “with us.” God never promised Joshua that he’d do everything Moses did. Nor did he promise that He’d give Joshua the same relationship with the people or the same skill sets as Moses. He promised Joshua that if he was careful to obey God’s instruction, that he would prosper and succeed in all he did. God was calling Joshua to courageous obedience.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church A/G

A Divine Interruption (Pt.2)

 “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.”-Matthew 9:35 

Jesus’ birth was a divine interruption in the lives of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and wisemen; however they would not be the last people’s lives that Jesus would interrupt. Another thing that Jesus was notorious for interrupting was the cycle of sickness in people’s lives. 

 

Remember, if the Good News isn’t interrupting anything it’s not transforming anything! Healing every much part of the Good News message as salvation:

 

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” 3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.[a] The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!”-John 9:1-7

 

The healing, that this man received is part of God’s plan to seek and save the lost. His healing was a divine interruption to the cycle of sickness he had been living with for years, decades in fact! However, it is a foreshadow of a greater healing God intended for us. Ultimately, Jesus came to interrupt our sinful condition! 

 

The Gospel is about transforming lives, meaning that the continuity of our sinful lives has to be interrupted if we are going to experience the new life that God has in store for us. Romans 3:23 declares that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God and Romans 6:23 goes on to confirm that the wages of sin is death.

 

We were born into a cycle of sinfulness: 

 

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”-Romans 5:12 

 

However, God’s gift to mankind was Jesus. Romans 5:8 declares that while were were yet sinners Christ died for us. He took the penalty of our sin upon himself and broke the continuity of sin. 1 Corinthians 15:21 tells us that just as sin entered the world through one man, resurrection unto eternal life comes through one man-Jesus!

 

Jesus didn’t free us to sin, He saved us from sin. That is why He told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. He instructed her not to return to continuity of sin that He died to deliver us from:

 

“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!”-Ephesians 5:8

 

Christmas was designed to interrupt us! The Good News that we declare, when received, will interrupt our lives in so many ways. Jesus wants to interrupt your misery with joy, your internal conflict with peace, your mourning with laughter, your fear with faith. Jesus came to break the continuity of pain that you are experiencing with His love and purpose. He came to interrupt your journey on the road that leads to destruction with access to a path that leads to eternal life. 

 

Who is ready for a divine interruption in their life?

 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

A Divine Interruption (Pt.1)

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”-Luke 2:8-12

As I was pondering this passage, I couldn’t help but think about the limited number of ways that news could be communicated in Jesus’ day. It wasn’t like today where we can turn on a television, radio, computer, or cell phone and quickly get up to speed on what is happening; not just in our community, but around the world. 

News in those days traveled slower. Important information had to be communicated in person or by letter. Writing was certainly an avenue for relaying important news and events, but it wasn’t being massed produced. It was painstakingly written down and then passed among the people. 

However, when it came to communicating the birth of our Savior, God used a more unconventional approach: an angelic visitation! That night as the shepherds were settling in for a long evening tending sheep, an angel appeared like a broadcaster breaking into their regularly scheduled lives: “We Interrupt this broadcast with this late breaking news.” 

This caused me to think about how the birth of Christ and the message of Christmas were like a divine interruption. The word interrupt means to stop the continuous progress, or break the continuity of something. It usually carries with it a negative connotation. 

Let’s be honest, none of us like to be interrupted. Whether we are talking with a friend and one of our kids starts pulling on our pant leg to get our attention or we just get into a groove at work and the boss calls for a mandatory meeting. We don’t like having our progress broken or the continuity of our conversations disrupted. 

Yet, the Good News that was proclaimed that night has been interrupting lives since the moment it was broadcast. From the announcement of His birth, it was obvious, that God was going to interrupt some things. One of the things that the Good News of Christ interrupts is our schedules. His birth records numerous people’s lives that were interrupted by His coming. Mary & Joseph certainly had other plans for their lives, when it was announced to them that the child she bore would be the Son of God. 

The shepherds were going through the same routine that they went through every night as they tended sheep. I am sure that some evenings were disrupted by the occasional predator that they had to run off, but nothing could have prepared them for the angelic invasion that broke through into their world that night. Talk about getting off schedule! Every item of the to-do list that night took a backseat to the birth of our Savior. That is the power of the Gospel! It causes us to take a good, long look at the priorities of our lives. 

Think about the Wisemen that visited Jesus. These men’s schedules were in complete upheaval, for weeks; perhaps months after seeing the star that declared the Messiah had been born.These men rearranged their entire worlds just to pursue Jesus.

Receiving the Good News caused a transformation in their schedules. I know from my own personal experience that my life radically changed after hearing the Good News. There were places and things I did with friends that stopped. Church was a new line item in my weekly activities along with daily devotion, worship and prayer. None of which took up any space in my schedule before I heard the Good News about Jesus. Here is a hard truth to accept: If the Good News isn’t interrupting anything it’s not transforming anything! 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

A gift worth giving!

 “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”-Matthew 2:1-2

The Wisemen that travelled from the East were on a mission. A mission to worship. We are not certain how long or how far they travelled, some scholars believe they could have traveled 400-700 miles.  Depending on the conditions, that journey could have taken some 30-60 days to complete. However, regardless of how long it took them; they still came intending to worship! That commitment to worship is what carried them to the very feet of Jesus.

 When the Wisemen arrived, not only had they come intending to worship, they came prepared for worship; each one carrying a specific gift to offer the newborn king. None of them came empty handed. They prepared themselves to meet a King. Each of their gifts was unique, but valuable in it’s own right. 

" 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod."-Matthew 2:11-12 

I am reminded of the Christmas Song- “The Little Drummer Boy”. Although we don’t read of him in the Bible, we glean the sense of the story to be connected with that of the Wisemen. Take out the Rum-Pum-Pum-Pums and you get to the heart of the story: 

Come they told me

A new born king to see

Our finest gifts we bring

To lay before the king

So to honor him

When we come

Little baby

I am a poor boy too

I have no gift to bring

That's fit to give our king

Shall I play for you

on my drum

Mary nodded

The ox and lamb kept time

I played my drum for him

I played my best for him

Then he smiled at me

Me and my drum

The little drummer boy didn’t think he had a gift worth giving. All he had to give was his very best worship, but it made Jesus smile. You may feel like you are too poor to give Jesus anything of value: poor in talent, poor in skills, poor in resources, but none of us are poor in praise.  

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”-Hebrews 13:15

 It wasn’t the value of the items brought that was impressive, it was the wisemen’s willingness to open up their treasure chests and give it all to Jesus that causes us to remember them today:

“They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”-Matthew 2:11

Gold, Frankincese, and Myrhh. You and I are the ones who are so fascinated by what was inside. We are the ones who have spent years studying and analyzing what was given. However, the gift was never what was inside. The gift was their willingness to open up and give Jesus their very best!  Are you willing to open up? Are you willing to give Jesus the very best of what’s inside of you? It’s time to open up your treasure chests!

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Stop the funeral (Pt.2)

(Part 2)

“Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.”-Luke 7:14

 

Sometimes we are so busy focusing on what’s been lost that we have fail to see what is right in front of us. The widow of Nain was on a collision course with Jesus. When Jesus saw the woman, his heart overflowed with compassion for her and He stopped the funeral! Come on somebody! Jesus stopped the funeral. He put His hand on the coffin as if to say, “That’s far enough”.  He even caused those tasked with carrying the dead boy out to be buried to stop in their tracks. 

 

 Just because you put something in a coffin, doesn’t mean it’s dead, especially if Jesus is in the room. You can try and put 2020 in a coffin, but you can’t call it dead. We need to quit trying to bury things that Jesus still has His hand on! Obviously, Jesus didn’t see a dead body. He saw an opportunity; an opportunity to demonstrate compassion. He was about to breath life and hope into a helpless situation.

 

Some would say, that just like the widow’s son, this year is just too far gone. We’ve lost 345 days of this year already, however can I declare to you that there are still 20 days remaining. How many days does Jesus need to turn things around? Ask Lazarus how long it takes Jesus to breath life back into something. Ask Jairus’ how much time Jesus needed to turn his daughter’s life around? Ask the widow of Nain, just how long it takes for Jesus to radically impact a person’s life.

 

I will agree that we started off 2020 strong and then when Covid hit, we lost momentum, but here is what I feel God wants me to tell you this today: You don’t need momentum, when Jesus can do miracles. We don’t need to recapture our momentum, we need to recapture our compassion for others:

 

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”-Luke 7:13

 

As the body of Christ we’ve been weeping our year away, carrying 2020 around in a coffin, waiting to bury it so we can move on with our lives. 

 

Like everyone else, I’ve suffered loss this year. I’ve battled Covid, I’ve had numerous vacations and trips canceled, and I’ve grieved the loss of a loved one who have passed away. So it’s not that I can’t identify with the loss everyone is experiencing. 

 

However, as the Body of Christ, we can’t allow our weeping to drown out our compassion. People all around us are experiencing loss and if the Body of Christ isn’t going to step up and respond, who is? 

 

I understand the dangers of Covid-19. Hundreds of thousands of people have died, but let me ask you this, how many of them died without knowing Jesus. Who’s job is it to proclaim Christ during a pandemic? Are we to put our mandate to make disciples on hold until the conditions are better? How many of those who died missed heaven because they did not hear or witness a single demonstration of Christ’s compassion, simply because we refused to adapt and find ways of sharing Christ.

            

What do we say to the thousands upon thousands of additional people that will likely die, between now and 2021? “Sorry, we are postponing our mission of winning souls until the beginning of next year.” 

 

No! Do what it takes to mitigate your risk (put on a mask, sanitize your hands, and socially distance), but don’t bury this year thinking next year is going to be better; because I bet someone was thinking that same thing in 2019. 

 

It’s not time for the church to give up, it’s time for us to give back!

 

“Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”-Luke 7:14-15

 

Jesus gave the widow of Nain more than a son back. He restored her hope. His compassion led to her miracle. Listen, there are things that you and I can’t give back to people. Losses that we are just not able to recapture, but we can give them the hope we have in Jesus Christ. 

 

However, we can’t do it isolated from humanity. We have to find ways of engaging the lost and the hurting. We have to stop the funeral! Stop trying to bury 2020. I believe Jesus wants to resurrect it. I believe He wants to breath life into it. We have a choice. We can squander the next 20 days or we can demonstrate compassion to a world that needs it more than ever. 

 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church