Tag: bible (Page 1 of 5)

Anything Is Possible

January 11, 2024 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I heard a podcast this morning about the idea of unity. You know working together with a common goal? Each using their individual talents, skills and abilities for a common good.

There’s a story in the Bible that I’m sure most of us have at least heard of at one point or another. It goes something like this.

The people of Israel were gathering together and getting better at pretty much everything. They were building a nation with cities and walls and towers. They learned how to make bricks and stack them in a way that made it safe to climb.

One day they decided that they had learned enough and had enough talent that they could probably make this tower reach high enough to see God, or perhaps at least see the world from his perspective.

They toiled day and night. Sweat. Blood. Tears. All of them flowed as they labored to build this tower.

At some point in the building process, God stooped down. By the way that’s my favorite part. They had such a tall tower that they thought they could reach God and he had to stoop down to even see it.

Then God did something astounding. He confused their languages. This is why the story is called the Tower of Babel, because he made their languages sound like babbling noises of a baby before they learn to talk. Or like Charlie Brown’s teacher on those old Peanuts cartoons.

But the reason is even more important. God, referring to their unity of purpose and mindset, said nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Do you see it? Essentially what God says here is that as long as they work together as one people, they are virtually unstoppable. They can do whatever they set their minds to, if they stay focused and work together as one.

If God knows this to be true and he’s on our side, then what do you think Satan will do with that same information?

Yep…Divide and conquer.

Satan’s no dummy. He knows that all he has to do is breathe a little discontent with one another and he wins. All he has to do is highlight the warts and flaws on the people around us and he can divide us. Then, as long as we’re distracted and divided by our differences, we move from being unstoppable to being unable.

What kinds of things keep you divided? What differences are hardest for you to overcome? Where have you let Satan bring division when God desires oneness?

One of the greatest ways to overcome this divisive spirit is personal ownership. A question I ask myself regularly in a conflict situation is what slice of this pie do I own? But it only works if everyone sitting at the table asks the same question. As soon as we all can claim our slice of the pie, it becomes much harder to throw that pie at someone else.

Together we can do amazing things!

Cracks in Concrete

January 9, 2024 / Derrick Hurst / 2 Comments

The church I pastor has a group that meets a couple times a month called Bible and Brew. We meet in a local pub, have a beverage of choice, share life stories, and talk about faith. Every time we get together I’m reminded how important this type of group really is, and it has nothing to do with the beverages!

This particular night one of the guys started us with the question, What does God want from us. Now that’s kind of a loaded question. And I’ll admit, it took every fiber of my being to not go all pastor on the group and try to answer the question. You see that’s the joy of this group. Generally the questions have no real answers, at least nothing that would be always right in every situation. Kind of like what does God want from us, there are hundreds of answers that all could apply perfectly.

As the discussion unfolded however, there was a theme that was starting to come into picture a little more clearly. In a world that is divided, how are we supposed to live. We talked about how political structures divide. We talked about how media has a tendency to sensualize everything only polarizing the divided landscape around us. What does God want from us?

It’s a pretty cool thought actually. When the world around us is divided and broken, how is the church supposed to act? The kind of obvious answer that came out of things was to not be divided. But how does that work?

We looked at passages like Hebrews 10 where the writer says do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. Ok so one way we stay undivided is to be together. The more together we experience, the less chance of cracks to come into our lives.

One image we sat on for a bit was the image of concrete. I have a concrete driveway. And as great as a concrete driveway is, there are some issues with concrete. One thing is pretty much certain. Concrete cracks. You’re pretty much not going to stop it from happening. They can put control joints in, you know those fancy lines in sidewalks and cuts in larger slabs. Those are intended not to prevent concrete from cracking but to stop cracks when they happen.

I made a bit of a mistake this year and didn’t fill the cracks in my driveway before winter. If you’re not aware, the little cracks in concrete, if left untreated, will eventually fill with water and in freezing temperatures as the water expands so will the crack. A tiny crack in concrete, if not taken care of immediately can result in some serious damage.

Ok back to the discussion of what does God want from us. I think if we look all over the place in the Bible, we’ll see a very common theme. Unity is kind of a big deal to Jesus. In Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer from John 17, Jesus says that they may be one as we are one. Oneness must be a huge thing. Jesus was kind of wrapping up his entire ministry and he did it by praying for unity in the body of Christ. What does God want from us?

If Jesus prayed for the church to be unified, then I’m pretty sure that’s what God wants from us and for us today. Our discussion was all over the map about unity, not uniformity but unity. We’re not all supposed to be the same or think the same but our purpose and identity is supposed to be tied to the same thing – the gospel. We used illustrations of tractor pulls and locomotives, teams of horses and mathematics lessons.

The long and short was that division isn’t math that God does. He’s not about dividing people. One of the first sermons I preached at the church I now serve was about a wedge. The principle of a wedge is that just the tiniest point of the wedge is all that’s needed to weaken the overall integrity of something. And just like that concrete sidewalk, if a crack is left unattended it can be devastating.

So what is it that unites us? Our common confession is the key. The thing that unites us isn’t a can’t we all just get along mindset, it’s not the sport team we cheer to victory, it’s not the political systems with which we align ourselves. The thing that unites us is the gospel. When the gospel isn’t the focus, when our attention shifts from the power and importance of the gospel, we run a strong risk of cracks popping up in the concrete of our lives.

What does God want? If the answer is unity, then we have to also admit that just like in concrete cracks happen in our daily lives as well. So what do we do when cracks show up? Well, we patch them. Seal them. Watch them closely over time. The same is true for all of us around the table that night. When disunity comes into play in our lives, we need to patch it with the gospel. We need to come back to who we are and what we’re called to be.

If the one thing God wants for us is unity, then we can be certain that coming to him is the best place to find that unity when a crack is discovered. Maybe it’s time to take a closer look at the driveway and patch up some of those cracks so that we may be one just as God is one.

The Song of Simeon

January 1, 2024 / Derrick Hurst / 1 Comment

The common text for the week following Christmas is the presentation of Jesus in the temple. But why is this something important to study? Why does the church look at this particular section nearly every year after Christmas? What is there for us to learn from this passage?

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

The time of purification according to the Law of Moses would have been at 8 days old. This was the time of circumcision for a boy. It was also the time given in Leviticus 12 for how long it would take for a woman to be clean after giving birth. Remember there were some tremendously detailed rules for how a person was to do rituals of cleaning.

When she comes to present the child in the temple and present herself clean after the days of her purification, she is to bring a lamb and a pair of turtle doves. There was a provision made however for those who couldn’t afford the lamb. They were just bound to bring the turtle doves. And this is exactly what Mary and Joseph did in our text. This can be for one of two reasons. Either Mary and Joseph were legitimately poor and of lowly means. The other option however is that the cost associated with the journey had rendered them unable to pay for a lamb. For whatever the reason, they brought a pair of turtle doves for the sacrifice.

There was great symbolism and remembrance associated with the sacrifice. If you remember the time of the plagues that were brought on Egypt. The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn unless they sacrificed a lamb and put some of the blood on the doorposts so the angel of death could Passover the house. Every year they would celebrate the Passover with a similar ritual, but it didn’t end there.

Since the Passover event saved the firstborn of the house, they also brought a sacrifice at the presentation of the firstborn child as a reminder to them that God saved the firstborn children in Egypt. So there’s a great double meaning here with a celebration of God’s deliverance from Egypt but also a continual reminder of God’s saving nature of his people.

The story then turns quickly to Simeon. We don’t know a lot about this man aside from what we’re told here in Luke 2. He’s a devout and righteous man. He had been waiting his whole life to see this child born even though he didn’t know it would be a baby.

The consolation of Israel is an interesting concept. Actually it functions as a title for Jesus. So just like he’s called Immanuel and King of kings, here he’s also called Consolation of Israel. The whole idea behind consolation of Israel is found in the more common word comforter. You’ll see this more frequently in the Bible that Jesus is called the comforter. Jesus even says he’s going to send the Holy Spirit to be the comforter.

Israel had suffered significant judgment and punishment throughout the Old Testament. They had been taken captive as the consequence for running away from God’s commands. To say that Israel needed comfort, or consolation, was a bit of an understatement. But Israel also used this idea of Consolation of Israel to help shape their view of what this Messiah figure would look like. Knowing he was going to be a consolation for their judgment and for all the trouble they had faced, they began to see the coming one as a warrior or powerhouse kind of leader. I mean how else would they be comforted for their troubles unless someone else was going to pay?

When Simeon sees in this baby the Consolation of Israel and says behold my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles he’s actually saying something really profound. Simeon is seeing in this little baby everything that Jesus would do in his ministry. It’s almost as if he hears Jesus teaching, watches him heal, sees the miracles he does, feels the pain of his death and joy of his resurrection.

Lord now let your servant depart in peace. He’s seen everything he needs to see but that hasn’t even happened yet! He is so confident in the work that Jesus will one day do, that he can die content knowing that Israel has already been saved, but not just Israel. He sees the salvation of the whole world. The redeeming power of God for all people, both Israelite and Gentile (non-Israelite). Simeon’s words also tie other passages of the Bible together to help see exactly who Jesus is for the people of his day and beyond.

Two key themes for the life and ministry of Jesus are salvation and light into darkness. Salvation is earned only by the blood of the lamb. The Israelites would have known this reality. And for Simeon to claim that Jesus is the salvation of Israel, would mean that he sees Jesus as the ultimate Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This was a monstrous claim and it meant that Jesus was everything they were hoping for in the newborn king. The only problem…he didn’t really look like the powerful king they were anticipating. His parents were common folks. They weren’t rich by any stretch. They even had to use the “low cost option” for sacrifice. A major clue for how Simeon was able to see all of this in this little child is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit enabled Simeon to see Jesus as something more than just an infant child brought to the temple by his humble parents. The Spirit opened Simeon’s eyes to see something significantly more powerful.

Then there’s the Light in the darkness line. The theme of light shining in the darkness is another key theme of scripture. We see it vividly in John’s gospel account. Jesus would be the light of the world. He was the light that shined into the darkness but the darkness wasn’t able to overcome it. Simeon sees Jesus as the light of God sent to reveal all that which was hiding in the sin shrouded corners of the world.

But beyond this passage there are several others that speak to the world needing a light to show it the way. Isaiah 8-9 is another really important section that deals with the theme of even Israel being a place darkness. When Isaiah was writing, Assyria was going to invade and pretty much annihilate the landscape of the Galilee region. Isaiah 9 says that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. This prophecy was exactly what Simeon was seeing unfold as Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the temple. The light of God was being carried into the Temple and one day would carry the people to God.

The power of this section is found not in Simeon or in his confession. It’s found in the Spirit who allowed Simeon to see all of this and understand what it was about. A people lost in their own thoughts and ways are met by the God who not only would show them the way but would be the way to the ultimate life of salvation and peace.

And this would be the message that Mary and Joseph would have taken out of the temple. This would be part of the message Mary would ponder in her heart. As she stood at the base of the cross and watched as her son was killed on the cross, she would have felt that spear pierce her own soul too.

Simeon saw the whole thing right there as he held the little baby in his arms. Pretty powerful message when you stop to think about it.

Rapture

November 15, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I lost three of my grandparents in about a year and a half. That narrow window of time for a loss is a lot to handle. And if you’ve lost anyone special to you, no matter if it’s three people nearly all at once or something significantly different, it kind of makes you wonder. Where are they? What are they up to? And will we ever see them again?

Those questions, and likely others like them, were swirling around a young church in the latter portion of the Bible. The book of 1 Thessalonians was written to a young church that didn’t have a lot of history. They knew the basics of who Jesus was and what he did. They knew the promise that he was coming back again.

But they didn’t know what that meant for their family members who died before Jesus came back. That seems to be the main issue here in the 4th chapter of this little letter. What will happen to my family who have already died?

I often wonder the same thing. I mean I kind of know, as much as a human can know the details of the afterlife. But I know they’re with Jesus and I know that one day we’ll all be with Jesus together. The challenge was that it seems Paul drew such a beautiful picture of the day when Jesus comes back to gather the living to be with him, that they started to get worried about the dead. You know the whole they’re going to miss out on this wonderful day when Jesus gathers his people to be with him.

This chapter drives us to understand this is just not the case. This is where the term rapture actually shows up in the Bible. No you won’t see it in many English translations because while it’s there it isn’t there the way we might think. It’s translated in most English versions as caught up in the clouds. That’s it. Caught up. The word that some translate as rapture and have written books about and formed whole theological traditions about is really a word that means to be caught up.

It’s a hard thing to consider especially with all the Hollywood-izing that’s happened with the term. Planes flying with no pilots. Cars with passengers zapped away. Football games with star players turned to vapor. These are the ways we try to explain it but I think this really misses the thrust of the word Caught up.

Think about the sunrise. You know that array of bright orange, red, purple and pink that somehow paint across the entire eastern sky. Add a little frost on the ground and crisp weather that makes you see your own breath and you’re caught up in something pretty spectacular. Yep you’ve been enraptured by this whole reality. It’s the same idea!

Paul here is telling the people in this little church that they will be caught up with their loved ones and with Jesus on the final day. No hocus-pocus. No slide of hand. No vapored bodies. No planes with no pilots. None of that is found here. Just being totally caught up in the presence of the risen and now returning Jesus.

Could those things happen? I mean I guess they can. God can do that if he wants but that’s not what this passage is about. It’s about you and me and even my grandparents all being fully enveloped or enraptured by the wonderful presence of the glory of Jesus when he finally returns. And that is something that should change the way we see life and death!

Signs Of A Real Church

October 23, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I spend a lot of time with many people talking about church stuff. From pastors discussing how they do worship and lead programs to church members about getting involved in serving or studying the Bible to people who want nothing to do with church, I see them all. And each of them come with their own set of benefits and challenges.

Recently I talked about a book of the Bible, 1 Thessalonians. Ok I know weird name but we have some doozies in states around the country as well!

Thessalonians is a letter that was written to a very young church in parts of Europe around the year 50 AD. The church was just getting started after a man named Paul came and started sharing what he believed about Jesus and the whole death and resurrection bit. He talked about how lives should look different if we actually believed this all to be true.

Well his stay in this bustling town didn’t last very long because some people were threatened by a message that wasn’t theirs. So they ran him off. Fleeing to a neighboring city he wrote a letter to those that remained as part of this fledgling church. His letter is packed with encouragement and thankfulness. But woven into the first few verses are three things Paul highlights that I believe are marks of a true, real, authentic and spirit filled church.

Work of Faith

The first thing Paul mentions is this idea of a work of faith. Now we have to make sure to get this right. This is not a work that leads to faith or earns some favor with God. This is a work done because of faith. You believe something so deeply that it changes who you are and how you live.

There’s another verse in the bible that says faith without works is dead. This means a person can’t say they believe and then have nothing in their lives change! If you really believe it then it has to shape who you are and how you live. This little church start known as Thessalonians had just that – a powerful faith in Jesus that led them to live a totally different kind of life. Turns out that these new Christians didn’t just say they believed in Jesus, but they actually let it change how they lived as husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves. Just about every aspect of their lives was lived out in faithful obedience to God’s word. Pretty cool huh!

Labor of Love

The idea of something being a labor means it’s work, often hard work that’s not all that pleasant at the time. When you have to labor through something it often means pain, or at least discomfort. It means some bit of self sacrifice to make this happen.

Paul tells this little church that their love for people (people like them and not like them) was something to take note of! They loved their neighbors, even their enemies and it was obvious to just about everyone. The Bible tells us that the world will know that we are followers of Jesus, not by how we lead our worship services or what hymns we sing. Nope they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

This group of new followers of Jesus got the love part down cold. Not some roses and candy kind of love either. This was a love that was able to welcome the person no one wanted to be around. It was going out of their way to help widows and orphans. It was serving the poor at their own expense. This love was strong, powerful and super evident to the world around them.

Steadfastness of Hope

The idea of being steadfast is to endure or stand the test. The third mark of the true church that Paul here highlights is about hope that can withstand some pretty crappy stuff. This church was started under duress. Paul was there only for a few weeks preaching and teaching. Then he was run out of own by people who didn’t want anything to do with him.

It was under these conditions that this church came into existence. It was under these conditions that this little group of followers was forged in character of hope. If you can have hope in the power of Christ through these types of scenarios, then hope has become part of your DNA.

So there are probably more things that we could say about marks of the church. The whole preaching of the gospel and rightly administering the sacraments are hugely important. But here in 1 Thessalonians, Paul doesn’t use those as examples. He does however say he knows they are real followers of God because of their working faith, laboring love, and enduring hope.

This is what we should all attain to as Christians. Just imagine how different life would be if we had these three markers in all we do.

Why Are They Fighting

October 12, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve heard that there is yet another conflict in the Middle East. However, this one isn’t your normal everyone is angry with everyone kind of conflict. This one has elevated to a horrific state of war. And I’ll be the first to admit that no one benefits from war. I’m not saying that as a knock on military or country by any means. As a matter of fact I’m a huge advocate and supporter of our military! It’s just the sad reality that war brings death and destruction. These aren’t part of God’s design for us but sometimes are necessary to fulfill an overall end goal.

Now why does this war matter? What is it about? What is it not?

There are a ton of war mongers out there who are spewing all sorts of things about this being the end the world. Or this has to happen for Jesus to come back. Or it was all staged. Or any number of things. But I’m not sure we really get the gravity of this whole situation until we step back a bit.

Now I’m not going to get all political with you. This isn’t about who’s right or who’s wrong. Although I do have my own very strong personal opinions about that. My purpose here is why do they fight, and why does it matter.

Ok so who are these two groups: Israel and Hamas. Strictly speaking Hamas is a Palestinian group that has taken their beliefs to an extreme position. Every country, every political party even has some who are extreme in their beliefs and often in their actions. Some call them extremists others radicals but we can see from the manner in which they operate that they function much like what we have come to know as a terror cell. Striking in civilian rich places with no warning and an intent to cripple, harm, and kill anyone and everyone who is not like them. Add to it the women and children that have been tortured and things get really disgusting really quickly. It’s terror on many levels.

Now not all Palestinians are part of Hamas. Like I said it’s an extreme group of them. However there is a pretty decent amount of sympathy toward even the most extreme parts by the rest of the group. It’s what’s meant by the statement the enemy of my enemy is my friend. While they don’t agree with the actions of the extreme group, they dislike the other side even more. But who are the other side?

Have you ever heard the biblical story of Jacob and Esau and the bowl of stew and the birthright and the promise and the legacy? It’s a story in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Esau was the older twin who was hungry. Jacob, the younger brother, was a great cook. Short version of the story is that Jacob made some delicious lunch and Esau was so hungry he was willing to trade his birthright for that bowl of soup. Yikes! That must have been some hunger! Later Jacob would deceive their father and outright steal a blessing that was intended for Esau. So there’s been some hatred and animosity between them pretty much since their birth.

Jacob would later be come to known as Israel. And from Esau would be a lineage that would forever be angry with his brother. Remember the soup? This group is what we have in large part as the Palestinian people. Please know I’m painting with large brush strokes here because there is more to the history but I’m giving a simple overview here.

All this to say, the fighting isn’t new. Actually it’s been going on for thousands of years. Some years it’s full blown atrocity like we’re seeing now. Other days it’s angry yelling across a border wall. But even in times of peace it isn’t the whole shake hands and be best friends kind of peace we want. It’s mind your own business and I’ll mind mine kind of peace. We’ll disagree and the only agreement is that we hate each other kind of peace.

Now that we have a quick biblical framework for who these people are and some idea of why they’re fighting, why does this matter today? Well some are taking this conflict and saying that since this is a biblical fight then it must be explained later in the bible as a sign of the end of the world. Caution – let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

Remember how I said this was a conflict lasting thousands of years? Yeah then why would today be the golden moment that indicates it’s all over? The Gaza region has been a point of contention for them for as long as they both had land. This is not new! There’s talk about a third temple being built but that isn’t happening this weekend. Actually, it’s been talked about since shortly after the last temple fell, which was over 1900 years ago! They’ve planned, prayed for, and talked about this happening for nearly every one of those 1900 years. And here we are with no foundation poured. The land hasn’t been graded down. The lumber hasn’t been gathered. The supplies have not been calculated and purchased.

So I’d like to caution us to go a little slower with the whole end of the world motif. There are numerous people who’ve calculated the end of the world based on earthly happenings. Y2K anyone? And how has that worked out for us…Since we’re still here it hasn’t happened. The Bible tells us that no one knows the day or hour of the end. But we should be ready all the time.

Look what’s happening over there and in various places around the world is not good. Killing innocent people is not good. War in and of itself is not what God intended for us. I don’t want to say it’s a necessary evil of the world but we do know that the sword has been given to keep peace and order. That means, as ugly as war is there are times when the muscle of power has to be flexed to keep evil at bay.

So the long and short is this is a territorial war over land that is built on hardships and disagreements for centuries! There’s a lot of hatred that can mount up in that length of time. What are we to do about it? Pray! Really it’s the one thing we need right now. For those of us who have family moving into that region to try to restore peace and to help innocent people get to safety, pray! For the men and women defending the innocent and rooting out evils, pray! For your loved ones near and far, pray! For you family and friends, pray! For you enemies and people you’ve never met, pray!

When evil rears its ugly head, all it desires is to turn us against one another. You can’t be against people if you’re praying for them. So get to it people! Pray for peace not just in Israel and Gaza but around the world and even in your own heart.

A Place More Religious Than Church

July 31, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I love audiobooks. I probably like them so much because I spend a lot of time driving to the gym, church, on visits, and back home. I spend well over an hour in my truck daily. So needless to say I get to listen to a lot of books. A couple of years ago I was able to consume nearly 70 books in a year all due to using audiobooks. Another key reason for audio books is that I’m a slow reader and I can change the speed of an audio book whereas I cannot change the speed of my reading.

One of the books I read (listened to) recently had a concept in it that has been rattling around in my head. I cannot for the life of me remember which book it actually was but know this is not my own original content. I’m fairly certain this was from a book by Eugene Peterson however.

The idea is this the most religious places in the world are not churches, but battlefields and mental hospitals.

Wow that one hit me. Not sure why that stuck with me so tightly but I was hurt in my heart to hear that reality. And even more saddened to think it was probably a correct assessment of reality!

But why are mental hospitals and battlefields more religious than churches?

I think it has a lot to do with despair, desperation, and destruction. You see when we live in a world of despair and desperation it’s easy to realize that there’s really only one place to turn. When we’re face with life altering destruction, there’s really only one place that can change our perception of reality.

I really think that the church has it too easy. We have our well decorated buildings and our set structures. We have some nice tax benefits. We have the ability to do much more than we let on. We aren’t forced to do things that go against conscience or faith. It’s actually a pretty nice set up.

But what do you hear when you talk to Christians today? We hear about the trouble and hardships and struggles in the world. We hear people complaining about how challenging life is but what we’re not on a battlefield or in a mental hospital so it’s easy to complain instead of doing something about it.

Perhaps the church needs a few more battlefield moments. We need to come to grips with the challenges we face in moments of despair. The more we have the more comfortable we grow and the more we tend to take the things of God for granted.

We’ve heard the analogy that the church is the hospital for sinners but that’s just not enough. It’s not enough to admit that we need Jesus and that he saved us. Yes it’s essential but when it comes to the driving forward of our faith into real life, it just isn’t enough unfortunately.

It’s not until we’re met with disaster and devastation that we actually buckle our knees in prayer. It’s not until our loved one dies or our marriage is on the rocks that we really see the power of God in our lives. It’s not until our job is ended and our life hits a low point that God becomes God again.

I hate how true the statement is, but the church really could use a life altering moment or two in order for us to realize just how much we need God again.

Hope

March 15, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

One definition of hope is the confident expectation of what is promised. I think this picture kind of sums that whole idea up with no words. Confident expectation of a promised blessing. What do you hope for today?

I think that all of us who are located in a region that has several seasons can sympathize with the idea of hoping for spring to arrive. When the cold and damp days of winter drone on forever, we are hopeful for the promise of sunshine and warmth that summer brings. Here in Ohio it seems as if we have all four seasons in one day! It’s easy to complain about the weather but we’d be better off hoping for the sunshine of tomorrow.

I took this picture this morning of a small flower starting to emerge from the snow covered ground. At first it seems as if it might be a bit confuse about the season or time of year. I mean things don’t bud, grow or bloom in the winter months. But then a quick reminder that it’s March will tell us that this flower is only doing what it is meant to do. It emerges from the ground in hope of the coming sunshine and warm weather.

I think some days it would be helpful if we acted more like these flowers. Instead of focusing on the cold, damp, snow covered ground look for chances to emerge and grow and eventually bloom into that thing we were created to be.

Ok so you’re not a flower. No matter how much you try you’re never going to be a flower. And you don’t have to emerge from the snow to thrive in this cold environment. But we were placed here in the circumstances in which we’re living for a specific purpose. To do something unique.

Just like the flower was planted for the purpose of growing and budding and blooming you were planted to grow and bloom in your own right. This reminds me of a story in the Bible. There was a woman named Esther in the Old Testament. She was a Jewish woman who ended up becoming queen of Persia. This was largely unusual but was made possible because no one really know her lineage. The king didn’t even know she was of Jewish origin.

After a lot of really awful things had happened, you can read those for yourself if you desire, the time comes for Esther to take a stand and reveal her identity as a Jewish woman. Esther is concerned to say the least! I mean if it doesn’t work out well, she would be killed without question.

A famous line comes out of that section. For such a time as this. The idea is that it is for this moment that you were placed here. It was for this purpose, this moment, this task that she was there. The same can be said for you and me. We’ve been put here for such a time as this, and if that means we have to hope against hope to move forward – then hope! Just like that flower pushing its way up through the snow, you and I were made for this moment. So we too must push up through the cold, darkness of our current circumstances. We have to do the only thing for which we were placed here. It is only then that we will emerge to bloom and thrive in the way we were created.

For now, before the bloom, before the flower can bud – hope. Move forward in the confident exception of what is promised. Live your life for such a time as this and leave the rest to the one who put you here.

Pass The Wine Please

February 16, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

There are some things in life that carry many meanings. They remind us of a variety of things. I know that seeing certain images takes me back to another time and another place. The crystal cookie jar that’s on my shelf at home reminds me of summers spent with my grandparents at their pool. The smell of cinnamon rolls in the oven transports me to Christmas as a child. The loud rumble of a semi truck using its engine as a braking system going down a hill makes me feel the bouncing seat of my Grandpa’s semi truck.

Everything has the ability to remind us of something else. But those special things can have multiple memories attached.

In the life of the church for which I am a pastor, we celebrate something called communion on a weekly basis. Communion is the bread and wine that are linked to and remind us of the amazing gift we receive in Jesus. Our particular identity believes that miraculously and mysteriously the bread is the body and the wine is the blood.

I recently took some time to consider why these particular elements were used. I found something interesting when it came to the wine. I always thought the wine was used partially because it was there as part of the Passover meal that Jesus was eating with his disciples. I thought it was used because it was red and it would be a visual reminder of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. And while these may be true, I think there’s more to it than just that. Wine has a much bigger, wider and deeper significance.

The use of wine weaves its way through the Old Testament. And throughout it has a wonderful array of overlapping meanings. Wine is more than just a harkening ack to Jesus’ blood on the cross. It was a symbol throughout the Old Testament of prosperity, life, vitality and celebration.

If we look at the uses of wine throughout the Bible, you’ll see that wine was indicative of wealth. It was a symbol of having plenty in life. Genesis reminds us that the blessing of Isaac on his son Jacob would be the blessing of abundant amounts of wine among other things.

But wine was also a marker of celebration. I think this one is most overlooked. Even in the context of the Passover meal, which Jesus was celebrating when he gave communion for the first time to his disciples, the tone wasn’t worship or contemplation. It was celebration. The passover meal was a meal of remembrance of all the God had done. It was the marker of when God saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. You better believe there was a party there. Wine was for celebrating!

Jesus’ first miracle is another time wine is used. I think there’s no accident here either. When Jesus first breaks onto the scene and does one of those cool God-things, it wasn’t healing someone or raising a dead person or even casting out a demon. His first miracle was all about wine. It was about provision, partying and participating in life with his people.

When Jesus turned water into wine, he did far more than just help the party manager save face. He elongated their celebration! He gave them a visible and edible reminder that he was able to provide for their needs in a variety of ways.

When we come to communion and take the bread in our hands and drink the wine, it’s far more than a memorial meal. It’s more than just a reminder of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a reminder of the provision of God for his people. It’s a display of God’s blessing and the prosperity that he brings on his people. But it should also be a visible and edible reminder that he wants us to celebrate.

Even in the New Testament the idea of drinking too much wine is correlated to being overcome by the Holy Spirit. When a person has a couple drinks too many they have a tendency to lose themselves in the moment. The same should be true as we gather at the table for communion. We should lose ourselves, not in too much wine but in the abundant provision of God through his Spirit. We should leave joyful and excited, like we just were part of a great celebration!

Wine is a wonderful reminder of God’s provision, blessing, and joy. It’s definitely something worth celebrating! So this Sunday, if you’re one of those church going types, go up to the table for communion. Take the bread. Drink the wine. Then remember. Remember the sacrifice of Jesus. Remember the provision of your Heavenly Father. But remember also to celebrate the full cup of God’s Spirit that he pours out for you at this table.

At Least They Didn’t See You Naked!

February 9, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Ok so this one is a bit of an out there kind of comment and I get it, but bear with me. No pun intended, well sort of.

I was recently chatting in a bible study group on the book of Luke in the New Testament. It was the story of Jesus healing the man with many demons. If you don’t know the story, it’s found in Luke 8. But the gist is that a man was possessed by many demons. Those demons did everything they could to try to kill the man. They gave him some unique abilities that we would call supernatural. But they also made him a tad out of his mind to the point that he would often be found running around town stark naked.

I know that would be a tad embarrassing to say the least, right? Well, after Jesus healed this man of his demons and cast them out of him, the man was in his right mind again. And all he could do was tell everyone around him about the man who healed him. And yes he was fully clothed.

As a pastor I hear a lot of people saying how uncomfortable they are with the idea of telling their friends and family what Jesus has done in their lives. We call that evangelism in the church world. We get a little apprehensive because we don’t have all of the answers. We aren’t sure we have the courage to speak up. We’re embarrassed about the idea of it. And what if people talk about us like we’re some kind of weirdo or freak?

Ok so I get it. The idea of sharing your faith is something that’s a bit abnormal. And I also agree that it can be a little unnerving at times. But at least the people you’re telling about Jesus didn’t see you naked!

Could you imagine being that man walking around town telling the people all that Jesus had done knowing that just yesterday he was running around town in his birthday suit? Now I get it. This isn’t the most normal way to think about this passage. And I’ve never really considered myself normal, so take that for what it is.

It’s really not that hard to do when you have had the experience this man had. He knew how much Jesus did for him so even his embarrassing naked escapades didn’t stop him. Do you know how much he’s done for you? Can you see the difference he’s made in your life?

Jesus isn’t calling you to streak through town. He’s just telling you that if you’ve experienced something that he’s done for you, then have the courage and boldness to talk about it. It’s really that easy.

Tag: bible (Page 1 of 5)

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