Pastors Brian and Jacque Lother
Pastor Brian: Most of us are familiar with the Last Supper. We think of it primarily in the context of communion and so forth.
Pastor Jacque: One more thing we forgot.
Pastor Brian: What did I forget?
Pastor Jacque: We want to thank everybody for the pastors’ appreciation.
Pastor Brian: Oh, yes, Yes. Go ahead.
Pastor Jacque: It is our joy to pastor this church. How many years?
Pastor Brian: We are going on twenty-seven.
Pastor Jacque: Twenty-six, twenty-seven. It's such a joy. We are getting older. It's hard to stop. Well, we won't stop till the Lord tells us to, but it's such a joy.
Pastor Brian: We are not going to stop. We might transition to doing it differently. But we are never going to stop.
Pastor Jacque: You are right. you are right. It's such a joy. Thank you for the love that you've expressed to us. And thank you for the financial gift that you gave.
Pastor Brian: Generosity. Yeah.
Pastor Jacque: We are just so appreciative.
Pastor Brian: Yes. So, thank you again very much. It's a joy for us to be here as your shepherds. We love you all. Most of us think when we think of the Last Supper, we think of communion and that was a big, big part of what Jesus was doing there. But it was also at the Last Supper that Jesus talked with his disciples about, I want to use the phrase, about going home, going to make room with us or for us with God. We often read this portion of scripture. We find it in John Chapter 14 verses 1 through 4, and I'd like you to read that.
Pastor Jacque: Don't worry or surrender to your fear, for you've believed in God now trust and believe in me also.
Pastor Brian: See, Jesus was affirming them. He said, “You've trusted in God; now also believe and trust in me.”
Pastor Jacque: My father's house has many dwelling places. If it were otherwise, I would tell you plainly because I go to prepare a place for you. And when everything is ready, I will come back and take you to myself so that you will be where I am and you already know the way to the place where I'm going.
Pastor Brian: From here the conversation gets actually very, very interesting and rather illuminating. And so we see in verses five through ten where Jesus says this:
Pastor Jacque: Thomas said to him, master, we don't know where you are going, so how could we know the way there?
Pastor Brian: Good old Thomas, right?
Pastor Jacque: Jesus explained I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No one comes next to the father except through union with me. To know me is to know my father too. And from now on you will realize that you have seen him and experienced him. Philip spoke up, Lord, show us the father and that will be all that we need. Jesus replied, Philip, I've been with you all this time and you still don't know who I am. How could you ask me to show you the father, for anyone who has looked at me, has seen the father? Don't you believe that the father is living in me and that I am living in the father? Even my words are not my own, but come from my father, for he lives in me and performs his miracles of power through me.
Pastor Brian: So first of all, you have Thomas who says we don't know where in the world you are going, and then Philip says, show us the father. Jesus responds in this way here. And it's like Jesus was saying, hey Philip, you've been staring at me this whole time. You've been staring at me this whole time and you haven't realized you've been looking at the father. Because, like father, like son. Like father, like son. But what about this exclusivity where Jesus says “I am the way. I am the truth. I'm the life”? Because that seems to be a big offense to so many people in the world, that exclusivity where Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life. And that no man comes to the father except through me. And it does sound exclusive, doesn't it? Isn't it? If not borderline arrogant. Coming from a man who otherwise seems very humble and universally accepting of everybody.
But in the last few sermons that I began, I really tried to lay a foundation about the fact that Jesus wasn't just a good person, a spiritual teacher. He wasn't just a prophet. He actually was God who came. He was that latter that descended from heaven that we sang about earlier today. He was the way, the truth and the life that came from heaven. Mankind has for Millennium tried to figure out a way to somehow climb to God. We can go all the way back to the early part of the Book of Genesis, where the Tower of Babel was created to make a way to get to God. And the fact of the matter is, there is no human-made way to get to God. There is only a God-made way for man to connect with God.
If Jesus really is God, then for him to claim to be the only way to God, it's just a matter of stating the obvious because– and we have to let this sink into our hearts. God is the only way to God. there is not another way to God other than through himself. Think of it this way. If your goal was to get to know a specific person, then there is only one way to get to know that person and what, the way that is. That person themselves. You can't get to know me if you never spend any time with me. You can read all about me on the internet. There is a lot out there on the internet, by the way. People impersonate me. That happened this past week, where people contacted a bunch of you saying they were me and would you please go out and buy some Amazon gift cards and mail it to them. Anytime you get contacted by somebody and are asked for money and that money doesn't run through our church in a specific way, it's a fraud. Just know that. But we are public figures. We are on the internet. You can Google my name. All sorts of things will come up, hopefully mostly good. A lot of music stuff that I've done, sermons that I preached. We are public figures. And people will impersonate me to try and take advantage of your commitment to me, because you know me. Because you've seen me, you've spent time with me, and that's the only way you can get to know somebody: to encounter them in a personal way.
Jesus fundamentally challenged all of “the how to” systems of the spiritual world. The way is actually, believe it or not, not the ten Commandments as wonderful as they are. This world would be a much better place if people didn't murder one another. Quit lying to one another, quit stealing from one another, quit committing adultery. This world would be a much better place. If they didn't covet their neighbors, gifts or neighbors belongings, or the neighbor's wife. I think this world would be a better place if we all figured out how to create a Sabbath. We would be better off. But those are not the ways to get to God. Those are ways to be blessed in our life. It's no different than– There are all sorts of things, like the eightfold path or the four noble truths, or the five pillars of action or there are six articles of belief, or even the seven sacraments. All of these things have a lot of good in them, but none of them will get us to God. None of them will.
There is no system of salvation that's stewarded by or religions on our planet that will get us to God none. God himself is a way to get to God.We should be thankful for that. So many of the other Religious systems of the world. Man is always striving to try and climb this ladder, so to speak, to achieve, to accomplish, to somehow appease, and then be accepted by this deity. But the scriptures tell us of an entirely different story, entirely different story that God came to this earth to share a wonderful message with us. That's why Jesus said to Philip, if you’ve seen me, you've seen the father. Philip said show us the father. What's he like? Jesus said if you've seen me, you've seen him and this is what they saw in Jesus. Someone that came to show his love. Someone that came to save us from our sins.
We struggle at times with sin, don't we? I get mad. I kicked something. And then I say that is stupid now my foot hurts. I'm not going to do that again. And then three weeks later I get mad there is something in my way and I'll kick it again and now my other foot is hurting.
Pastor Jacque: I've never seen you do that.
Pastor Brian: A lot of my sin I try to commit in private.
Pastor Jacque: I'll pray for you.
Pastor Brian: Please. So, what I'm saying is this, I can work really hard to try and overcome my sin. But Jesus said, let me help you overcome that sin. He is the one that can take sin from my life. He is the one that came to set up a Kingdom, and believe it or not, he was the one that came to actually shut down religion once and for all. He wanted to shut down all the ways that man did things to somehow please God. Some of the things that our cultures of our world have done to appease God throughout history has been incredulous to say the least. Taking babies and throwing them into fire. Somehow this is going to satisfy a bloodthirsty God. I'm not sure that I would even want to be on that god's good side.
Pastor Jacque: Or people that would walk on their knees for miles.
Pastor Brian: Yes, for miles.
Pastor Jacque: That must really make God sad to realize that people feel that is necessary.
Pastor Brian: It does and one of the things that Jesus is asking us to do is to embrace his love and the freedom that his love actually brings to us. Not that inner turmoil and that inner striving and that sense of never measuring up. Oftentimes, we cling to our denominational or our religious practices because when you've been stooped in it, steeped in it, raised in it, there is a certain security that they bring. But you know what? We can't do both. You can't have this one and also this one. I remember the first time we went to Haiti; our Haitian families are here today. And we were in this little town where Jenise and Deliverance were born, and they were raised. It's a little village called Ranquitte and we were going door to door and just talking with people.
We went to a person's house, and they had a cross up on the wall “trust in the Lord with all your heart” sign and then over here they had a voodoo altar in their home. So, I'm talking to the head of the home, the father, the husband, and I said, “Well, what is this? You know what his answer was? Well, that's just in case that doesn't work. It's in case Jesus doesn't work I have voodoo to fall back on. And the fact of the matter is we are no different at times. When we want to prop our confidence, our trust, our sense of acceptance with God by all the religious things we do, we are no different. There is a verse that we probably all memorized. You know it. I'm going to have Jacque read it from a little bit of a different translation just to give us a little bit more of a different perspective on it. It's John three.
Pastor Jacque: John 3:16. For here is the way God loved the world. He gave his only unique son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish, but experience everlasting life.
Pastor Brian: Sometimes we get that this statement was made to a Jewish leader. His name was Nicodemus, who came to Jesus that night under the cover of darkness because he was moved by Jesus and he had all sorts of questions. Jesus at one point said, you are a teacher of the law and you don't know this stuff? That's an indictment. But sometimes I think if Jesus was here, he'd say the same thing to us. You read your Bibles, you go to church every week and you don't know this stuff. And Jesus tells his Jewish leader about this incredible, radical inclusivity of Jesus, not exclusivity, but inclusivity, where he says now, everyone who believes in him. Everyone who believes in him will not perish. For God so loved that whoever believes can be included.
Jesus is saying to Nicodemus that God was coming, but he wasn't coming to save Israel from Rome. He was actually coming to save Jews, Romans and everyone else altogether. That's what he was coming for. And sometimes we forget that all races and ethnic groups bleed the same color blood. All the blood that's ever been shed through cultural wars, it's all the same color because we are one human race. Jesus came to save everyone from every kindred, tribe and tongue, everyone. I figure if Jesus loves them, then so should I. If Jesus doesn't have out with them, then neither should I. And through Jesus, God is opening up his saving arms to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Let me say that again. Through Jesus, God is opening up his saving arms to anyone, anywhere, when? At any time. Offering to us all the gift of love and the gift of life. And all that we need to do, what must I do to be saved? And we are really good at making lists, aren't we? But there is only one thing to do, and this one thing actually is not considered a work of righteousness. It's to believe and to receive. To believe and receive. All that anyone needs to do is accept this gift. And to trust that it is true. It's true. If God has gone to great lengths to communicate his reconciling love and acceptance and his forgiveness and his friendship towards us, but we don't actually believe it's true or we don't actually go through that step of trusting and receiving and believing then we will remain estranged. Like the apostle or like the prophet Isaiah said, your sins have made a separation between me and you. And it wasn't the evil deeds; it was the unbelief.
You know the only sin that God can't forgive? There have been all sorts of debates about what the unpardonable sin is. I'll tell you what the unpardonable sin is: unbelief. If we don't believe, there is no way to be forgiven. That's the simple answer. God says He is the way, the truth and the life. And that's not being exclusive or distant because He is including us all. Because he says whosoever will may come. I would say that's a radical inclusivity rather than being exclusive on his part. One more verse, actually a couple more, but the first one is Colossians 1:21.
Pastor Jacque: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds.
Pastor Brian: Listen to that. Where were we enemies?
Pastor Jacque: In our minds.
Pastor Brian: Were we actually enemies of God? No, where were we enemies? In our thinking. Read it again.
Pastor Jacque: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
Pastor Brian: So what happens when we sin? What happens when we actually do something wrong or evil? What happens internally in us? We start to feel shame, alienated, guilty, whatever. And the next step is for God's what?
Pastor Jacque: Mad at me?
Pastor Brian: Mad at me.
Jacque: I got to work my way back.
Pastor Brian: Gotta work my way back.
Pastor Jacque: I got to be better.
Pastor Brian: Got to be better. God has rejected me because of what I just did. The language here in this text suggests that we might be enemies with God not because our evil deeds are unforgiven but because we don't realize we have been forgiven. We don't realize we've been forgiven. And of course, when we feel that we have to do more, then we start getting into works and then if we actually do a few works, we start to get proud about those works, don't we? And what happens? Our sin actually starts compiling exponentially.
Pastor Jacque: We are trusting in ourselves.
Pastor Brian: Yes, we are trusting in ourselves. And one of the reasons Jesus came. Was to actually change how we think. Change how we think. When Jesus was born– and we are going to probably read this verse a few times here in the next month and a half with the Christmas season on the horizon. But this verse in Luke Chapter 2:10, the angel made this incredible announcement to the shepherds and it says this.
Pastor Jacque: But the angel reassured them, saying don't be afraid, for I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard. And it is for everyone, everywhere.
Pastor Brian: Wow, great news, good news, great joy for all people, wherever they may be. That is the gospel. That's the gospel. Let me say it again. Good news, great joy for all people, wherever they may be. That is the good news. That is the gospel. God has come to us in human form, embodying as well as announcing that he desires for everyone to have his life, eternal life. Let's read first Timothy 2:1-6.
Pastor Jacque: Ohh, I want to keep on verse eleven when he said and it is for everyone, everywhere for unto you is born this day is in the city of David, the Savior who is Christ the Lord.
Pastor Brian: Who is he? Who was he born for?
Pastor Jacque: Everyone, everywhere.
Pastor Brian: Unto us. To you, to me, to your neighbors. Dare I say the Taliban? The illegal immigrants. The Russians invading Ukraine. The drug dealers. South America.
Pastor Jacque: The gangs in Haiti.
Pastor Brian: The gangs in Haiti. Hamas, Israel. God so loved that he gave. That he gave. So we see. Some instructions that Paul is giving to Timothy, and we'll come down to the home stretch here with this.
Pastor Jacque: Most of all, I'm writing to encourage you to pray with gratitude to God. Pray for all men with all forms of prayers and requests as you intercede with intense passion.
Pastor Brian: Get this.
Pastor Jacque: And pray for every political leader and representatives so that we would be able to live
tranquil, undisturbed lives as we worship the awe inspiring God with pure hearts.
Pastor Brian: Now, how many will admit honestly to me that your initial response to most politicians is to not pray for them? Raise your hands. Probably should be all of you.
Pastor Jacque: We'd rather criticize.
Pastor Brian: Yeah, we'd like to, that stupid jerk. You know what he did? I can't believe what they are doing now, right? But Paul, we say, man, if I could just spend a day with the apostle Paul, let him lay hands on me and pray for me. One of the things he is saying is pray for every political leader and representative so that we will be able to live tranquil life. Maybe, just maybe, our lives aren't as tranquil as they could be because we have been negligent in praying for our political leaders.
Pastor Jacque: Wow.
Pastor Brian: So, let's always look at ourselves first when there are problems around us.
Pastor Jacque: It is pleasing to our savior, God, to pray for them. He longs for everyone to embrace his life and return to the full knowledge of the truth.
Pastor Brian: A lot of us forget that politicians who were just charged with this crime and extortion and this or what have you are making some horrific decision or whatever. We don't often think of them as someone that God longs to embrace. We don't think of them that way. But God longs to embrace them. And have them come to the knowledge of the truth. And then he goes on to say this.
Pastor Jacque: For God is one and there is one mediator between God and the sons of men.
Pastor Brian: Now, by the way, when it says God is one, that word one there has the same implication as when we get married. The scripture says and the two shall become what? One. It doesn’t mean that they are no longer individuals. But there is a unity or there is a greater purpose. there is a oneness that happens in covenantal marital relationships. This is the kind of relationship that God has with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But Paul is writing to Timothy saying God is one, not one person. One in unity. Because there are three persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit and he is in this oneness with himself. And he goes on to say, and in that oneness of the Godhead, there is one mediator between God and the sons of man, and that mediator is.
Pastor Jacque: The true man, Jesus, the anointed one. He gave himself as ransom. Payment for everyone.
Pastor Brian: Now get this.
Pastor Jacque: Now is the proper time for God to give the world this witness.
Pastor Brian: Now is the time for God to give the world this witness. I would say this. I'm going to be seventy-three in February. I've seen a fair amount since 1951, since the day I was born, a few of you have lived longer than me. Most of you, not as long as me. Boy, that's really strange for me to say that. I've seen a lot of good things, and I've seen a lot of bad things during the course of my life. But I can honestly say without question there has never been a more proper time for God to give the world this witness of who Jesus is, than right now than right now. And this is what Dale and Berta did. They gave a proper witness when they were in Colombia. What God wants from us is to take this wonderful witness of who Jesus is. There are a lot of metaphors in scripture that describe humanity's condition before Jesus comes on the spot before Jesus comes on the scene, and one of those descriptions we find in the scriptures is called a very deep pit. That's one of the descriptions that humanity is described as: being in a very deep pit. And just for a moment, imagine yourself having fallen into a pit. You are at the bottom of this pit. What do you do? Help! Right? You learn one word or know one word at that time. Help, help. Eventually, someone is walking by. They hear this voice coming from the distance. They find where it's coming from. They see this big pit, this hole. They look down; you are down there. You are crawling for help. They say, “Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back. I'm going to call 911.” So they call 911. The emergency crew finally shows up. A rescuer is lowered down into the depths of this pit to hoist you outback to safety. He finally gets to where you are at. And you look him in the face and you say it's just you. I was expecting someone different? Is that what you'd say? What would you do? You would grab on to that rescuer and never let him go until you were out of that pit.
Wouldn't you agree that it's nonsensical to criticize the one way of escape as being too exclusive for you? And here is our problem: We expect multiple options. Because we want the power to decide our own method of rescuing. That's it in a nutshell. We want the power of determining the method of rescue. But when you are in the pit, and there is no way else out, you take the only form of rescue that's there. And the only form of rescue that was offered to us is in the person of Jesus Christ. Because when God sent Jesus to this earth. He was making an incredible statement that He is radically inclusive, because whosoever will can come. God is mystifying, and the reason He is such a mystery at times is He is infinite, and we are finite. Our little brains just can't comprehend everything about this infinite, majestical God. And so he is mystifying at times. As a matter of fact, if you think of the power that is contained within God himself, he could be even somewhat intimidating. If you look at the vastness of the universe and look at the volcanoes that are erupting in Iceland right now. Just that is kind of freaky and scary and intimidating, isn't it?
Pastor Jacque: Just think what the sun is like and he created the sun.
Pastor Brian: And then of course, our sun is just a tiny little star compared to some stars out there.The power of God can be somewhat intimidating. But if I believe that the incredible love and grace and charity and forgiveness that we see in Jesus gives us a glimpse of this infinite power, this infinite being of power, if I believe that that Jesus gives me a glimpse of what that power is like, then the universe and the world becomes actually a safer and more comforting place for me to live in. It really does. It's no longer a cruel world. Oh, cruel world, you've heard that often, right? But it's no longer a cruel world because Jesus has come and the love of God has come, not we finally got up to the love. He came to us. God has come to this sin-sick, sin-filled place, this world we live in, not to judge us, not to condemn us, not to bring fear into our lives, but to bring his life, his grace, and his power. So that we could be delivered from the evil one, that he is alive and well. He is alive and well.
Aren't you thankful today that we actually have authority over the schemes and plans of the enemy? Aren't you thankful for that today? That's not spooky; that's not goofy. That we need that there is a God of this world. His name is Lucifer, or Satan, who actually is called, his title as the god of this world. Little g of this world, but that Jesus is also coming to set up and establish his Kingdom. That's where Jesus prayed, thy will be on Earth, as it is in heaven. And He has empowered us. He said that same power that raised him from the dead, dwells in us richly, and that He has empowered us to do the works of him. And so when Dale talks about looking at someone who has been harassed with the spirit of infirmity in their life, that's not goofy. That's a privilege for us to say I can take authority over that and bring freedom to this person.This person, this lady didn't need to have that skin affliction.
So we have to understand when Jesus came, he came with a complete gospel, a complete good news, a complete deliverance for all of us, not just to give us a place to go when we die. But to give us life here more abundantly, and it doesn't mean that we won't have trials, it doesn't mean we won't have circumstances that are heartbreaking and heart wrenching. We will but we can always have his peace and we can always know that he is still on the throne. And so we have to be ok with mystery at times. We have to be ok with that. We struggle with that as western believers because we want to have answers for everything, don't we? But we have to be ok with that mystery side of things. But here is what we can know: the person of Jesus was God. And he showed us clearly what our father in Heaven is like, a God of love, a God of mercy, a God of Grace, a God of provision, a God who cares, a God that doesn't need to be appeased, a God that opens up his arms and says whoever wants to come I will embrace you. All you have to do is believe that I am He. Let's pray.
Father, thank you. Come into our unbelief today, Lord. As the man that Jesus said to, do you believe and he said, I do believe, but help me with my unbelief. Lord, there is unbelief in all of our hearts in some way, shape or form or another. Help us to believe that you are the gift from our father in heaven. You are the one that came. You, the unique son. Because you loved us so much, father. And anyone who will believe in you, Jesus, can experience life, forgives, removal of shame, removal of all of the lists of things we have to do to somehow get you to smile at us. Jesus gives us all of that. So help us today to live in a place of pure trust and believe in you. Pastor Robert, would you come?
Pastor Robert: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For he did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but through him the world might be saved. That's the gospel. That's the good news. Do you receive the good news today? In order to receive the good news, you got to do some uprooting. You got to uproot some bad teaching, some bad receiving. I taught in a Bible group before about the love of God to believers. And do you know, I got opposition for teaching on the love of God? That a believer somehow could not reconcile that God's motivation and relationship to us was through love. They couldn't receive that. That our relationship with God was through fear, fearing him, not him loving us.
The world says that that's weak. The world likes to condemn. The world likes to judge the world, likes to retaliate, the world likes violence. Look at all the top-rated movies and stories. It's about violence and destruction. We’ve got to blow something up. We've got to destroy something. But if you can't receive the love of God you don't know him. I don't care what title you want to call yourself. If you can't receive the love of God, you've missed the whole point. The scripture tells us what we've repeated today. For God so loved the world, that's why he sent his son. He is telling you right there out of his own mouth. He said, “I didn't sin of myself to condemn you.” That was not the purpose of Jesus being robbed in the flesh, which he could have couldn't. That could have been God's motivation. But it wasn't. It said, for God so loved the world. He loved his creation. Remember back in Genesis he said when he created mankind it's good; it's very good. We are made, created in his image. Lord, let us receive you today in all of your love, in all of your goodness, in all of your splendor and all of your mercy, in all of your kindness, in all of your joy, in all of your wisdom, in all of your freedom. And let us remove every doubt and unbelief so that we can be free to display the image of God that you've created us in. Lord, as we enter into, it called for many, the season of light.
Let your light shine through us so that the hopeless would receive hope, that the loveless would receive love, that the abused would receive kindness, that the depressed would receive joy. Father, remove every seed of bitterness that would taint our hearts. And Lord, through our actions, let us reflect those that are loved. For it is often said that the rejected reject, the abused abuse. But we are not those children that are rejected by his father. We are loved by the creator of all the universe. So let that love radiate through us so that someone because of you and because of your love would be saved and they would reap eternal life because of the love that's shown through us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Pastor Brian: Believing and receiving is something that happens in our hearts. But I do think it's good at times to do something outwardly to express what is happening in our hearts. So if you just all stand together with me, and if you'd be comfortable enough just to hold out your hands like this, I want to just pray a blessing over you. And if you are watching by livestream, I want you to do the same. Just put out your hands because we believe that God is not a force, but that God is a person that we can encounter and he has sent Holy Spirit to come and touch our hearts and move upon our minds, and that we can actually experience the presence of the Creator. And that's one of the ways that we actually trust in him. So as I pray this blessing over you, I want you to just open up your hearts to receive from our creator, our Father in heaven, who loved us so much, he sent Jesus. And when Jesus ascended, he sent Holy Spirit to come and live within us, and to lead us and to guide us so that we would never be alone. So receive this today.
Now, may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord turn his face towards you and give you his peace. And may you sense the wonderful presence of our loving creator. This, we pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. God bless you. Thank you for being here today. John and Tina will be serving communion for anybody who would like communion after the service. We will also have people to pray for you if you have any prayer needs. God bless you. Thank you for being here today.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 11-12-23. If you would like to watch the full service, click the link below.