Sun. May 18, 2008 (Gay Lynn Voth)

Gay Lynn Voth used scripture as her sermon notes, asking us to feel that God is meeting us through the text. She is currently working on a Ph.D. dissertation to review writers of Constructive Theology (late 19th Century through the present): theology that fits the problems of our time. She encouraged us to remember that any given passage of scripture can have a completely different meaning to us depending on what we are ready to hear on that particular day. Gay Lynn challenged us to think of the text of the Bible as "God-speech" because it is divinely inspired and the Holy Spirit helps us to understand and apply it. Such messages from God are "constructed" in our minds by the scriptures through the stories that are recorded about how God has acted in the past. She contrasted science with aesthetics as the alternative perspectives that we can have when we approach the text. We are called to be witnesses to the manifold works of God, especially his work through Christ (forgiveness and ressurrection). God used his sovereignty to give us the freedom to either focus on the corruption of the fallen creation or to give praise for the message of Christ to all nations ("I love you"). Jesus fulfilled both the Hebrew sacrificial system and the Greek virtue system. Gay Lynn suggested that both aesthetics and science fail to explain the mystery of the Trinity; the resurrection of Christ marked the beginning of a new time. [KJH] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday May 18th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. May 11, 2008 (Grant Hill)

Grant Hill’s Pentecost message to us on “The Wristwatch of Humbleness” began with the Pentecost story of the faithful who were instructed to wait in Jerusalem for the blessing of the holy spirit. This blessing, a spontaneous act of creation by God, was unlike any other event before or since, and it was not in their control Can you imagine a drunken Dolly Parton speaking in perfect French? Yet the Jews of the time expected just that when they supposed that these uncouth Galileans were merely drunk when speaking in the tongues that were the blessing of God. Grant noted that this event divided the time of God before, from the time of God after, and gives us a choice in how we choose to respond. This is not just another miracle like the Babel story, and to treat it as such leads to two pitfalls. This event divided the time before when God spoke only to an elect few, from the time now, when God speaks to all, each in one’s own age and place. We cannot expect God’s message to us now to have tongues of fire resting on our heads - that was a unique event that divided the time before from the time after. Grant asks us to take care to place ourselves in the proper time - neither before the proper time, living as if Jesus had not blessed us personally with tongues of fire, therefore we are not yet saved - nor after the proper time, to live in complete freedom as if things which are yet to come, are already here. The Babel story was not the result of human sin - God created division and the people were scattered. The Pentecost story was not the result of human grace - God through Jesus created redemption and the people have the opportunity again to choose. The promise is not that we are saved, but that we shall be saved. Therefore, measure not spirituality in tongues, as that was only a foretaste of the world to come. And live not in the past, as though you have no control - you never did. Only God does, and the message of Pentecost is an invitation to choose to follow - in humbleness, aware of our time. We are free to humble ourselves, or to rebel; we are filled with the power of the holy spirit, but have not been given control. It is this lack of control that is hardest for us to accept, in this age that demands proof and security, for the trust in God to raise us up on the last day. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday May 4th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. May 4, 2008 (Ron Penner)

Dr. Ron Penner (President of Columbia Bible College, former professor at the Fresno Seminary) spoke on "Keys to Overcoming Adversity". Of the many stories in the bible illustrating how believers addressed adversities in their lives, Ron focused on the account of Joseph (Genesis 37.1-8), a 17-year old trouble maker who grew up to become the Prime Minister of Egypt by age 30. Joseph was raised in a dysfunctional family, the 11th of 12 sons, in a pre-literate society, pre-10 commandments. Sharing his dreams with his jealous brothers was foolish, leading to his first main adversity: slavery in a foreign land, faced with a new language, and working for one of Egypt's toughest captains and executioners. Joseph did not settle for doing the minimum to survive, but instead learned the language, culture, city economics, and came to help his master's household flourish. When framed by Potiphar's wife, he was jailed (not executed, suggesting Potiphar suspected she was not telling the whole story). Even in prison, Joseph adjusted, helped and encouraged others, and made the best of his truly adverse circumstances. He was freed eight years later, rising to great power in the world's leading economy. Even when he could have been a corrupt politician (like so many others) or when he could have taken revenge on his brothers, Joseph rose above the temptations. Ron gave us several things to contemplate this week. (1) Parents should never give up on their children--never. (2) Like Joseph, we should continue to listen to the voice of God within us (whether it is a random thought, a word from someone or even a dream or verse). (3) We should carefully guard our integrity, not compromising our moral or ethical standards. (4) We should make the best of what life presents us (whether we are slaves or politicians), and (5) we should learn to be patient, for adversity does not disappear quickly. Joseph was in jail 8 years, but eventually was given an opportunity to live a different life. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday May 4th using your browser's preferred media player.