Your Works Testify

Posted on 2017/04/18 by Shawn Thomas

“But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.” (John 5:36)

Jesus was speaking to the Jews who were seeking to kill Him because He claimed to be equal with God, and He was giving them “evidence”, in a sense, that He really was who He claimed to be. He referred to the testimony of John in :33, but then He added here that there was a greater testimony to who He was: “the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me …”. Jesus was able to point to His works to prove that He was who He claimed to be.

This should occasion some soul-searching among those who claim to be God’s people today. Are you really what you claim to be? Continue reading →

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“Your Response To The Resurrection of Jesus” (Matthew 28 Easter sermon)

Posted on 2017/04/17 by Shawn Thomas

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” (C.S. Lewis)

We should ponder these words of C.S. Lewis — especially today on Easter Sunday, as we consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If it didn’t really happen, then it is of NO importance whatsoever; we are all just wasting our time. If it DID happen, then it is of infinite importance; then there is nothing in your life more important than following Jesus. The only thing it must not be is of “medium” importance in our lives — and unfortunately, that is JUST the place that I fear many of us try to give it! We try to fit Jesus in somewhere between baseball and your next hair appointment — and that is just where He can NOT be: He must either be of no importance, or of infinite importance — and each of us needs to ask ourselves today, which will it be for me?

Our passage this morning, Matthew 28, describes the people and circumstances around the resurrection of Jesus. As you look at it, you can see that there is a real variety in the way that the people associated with Jesus’ resurrection here, responded to Him. Some totally blew it off — it was evidently of no importance to them. But others took it seriously, and committed their lives to Him. Let’s look at how these different people responded to Jesus — and how WE should. Continue reading →

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Passing On What Was Delivered To Us (Lord’s Supper Message, I Corinthians 11:23-26)

Posted on 2017/04/13 by Shawn Thomas

Several years ago there was a couple who was driving on a remote stretch of highway in Florida, where there had been a number of crimes committed in recent days. Unfortunately the couple had car trouble and got stranded, and for the longest time no one stopped to help them because of the reputation of the area — until one man finally did. He stopped to help, looked over their car, and got it going again. Although they offered, the man wouldn’t take anything for what he had done. As he drove off, the wife said to her husband, “How will we ever be able to pay him back?” The husband said, “We cant. But we can pass on to someone else, what he has done for us.”

The lesson of that real life story is very much in line with our passage for tonight from I Corinthians 11:23-26, as we prepare to share the Lord’s Supper together. In reading this passage again this week, I was struck by the first words of this text, which I had never really focused in on before. This section on the Lord’s Supper begins with :23, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you …” and then he goes on to describe the Lord’s Supper.

I want us to focus tonight on those introductory words: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you …”. We should never overlook any words in scripture; “all scripture is God-breathed”; “not a letter or a stroke will pass away from” it until all is accomplished. So these words aren’t just an “insignificant” introduction. Let’s think about them for a moment: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you.” Continue reading →

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How Clear Can It Be?

Posted on 2017/04/12 by Shawn Thomas

“So that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (John 5:23)

How is Jesus to be regarded by us? As a good teacher? A prophet? God-like but something less? This verse makes it extremely clear: Continue reading →

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An Overlooked Verse

Posted on 2017/04/11 by Shawn Thomas

“Afterwards Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him, ‘Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.'” (John 5:14)

Jesus had previously healed this man, who had been sitting by the pool at Bethesda, and the Bible tells us that He later purposefully “found him” in the Temple to give him this admonition: “Do not sin anymore.”  His warning is similar to the one He gave to the adulterous woman later in John 8, “Now go and sin no more.” It is a word that many of us need to hear today as well. Continue reading →

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“The Worst Trade Ever” (Matthew 4:10 sermon)

Posted on 2017/04/10 by Shawn Thomas

With baseball season starting this week, I was reading an article on the worst trades in baseball history. There were a number of contenders, but I have to agree with the one they identified as the worst: On December 26, 1919, the owner of the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the owner of the New York Yankees for $100,000, and a $300,000 loan to finance his musical, “No, No, Nanette.” Now I like a lot of musicals, but I have never heard of that one, and I have to agree that was one of the worst trades ever.

But there have been worse — among them the trade that Satan offered Jesus in Matthew 4 when he offered Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory in exchange for worshiping him. Thankfully for all of us, Jesus didn’t take him up on that trade — but sadly, many individuals among us have — in fact, we all have to some extent. We need to learn from the response of Jesus here:

“Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only.” Continue reading →

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Two Inseparable Elements of Genuine Worship

Posted on 2017/04/10 by Shawn Thomas

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” (John 4:23)

This is the same “hour is coming” Jesus had just mentioned in :21, when He said that worship is not a matter of geography: “Neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” He completes that idea by indicating true worship must be “in spirit and truth.”  Continue reading →

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Worship Isn’t A Matter of Geography

Posted on 2017/04/07 by Shawn Thomas

“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” (John 4:21)

Jesus’ statement to the woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria should not be lost on us today. Responding to her “dodge” question about the controversy between the Jews and Samaritans about whether a person could worship in the mountain at Samaria, or in Jerusalem only, Jesus indicated that “an hour is coming” (brought about by His impending death & resurrection) when worship would not be a matter of geography. Continue reading →

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A Foundational Lesson About God And Worship

Posted on 2017/04/06 by Shawn Thomas

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

Here Jesus teaches the Samaritan woman, and every one of us who reads the inspired record of her conversation with Him, something about God which is foundational to our understanding of Him, and how He must be worshiped:  Continue reading →

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The “Hard Part”

Posted on 2017/04/05 by Shawn Thomas

“He said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.'” (John 4:16)

Having gotten the attention of the woman at the well with His promise of eternal life, Jesus gets to the “hard part”: “Go, call your husband and come here.”  Continue reading →

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