First Sunday In Lent
Sunday, 29, February 2004
(Commissioning service for youth mission trip to Saltillo Mexico)
Deuteronomy 26:5-10
Romans 10:8-13
Luke 4:1-13
Psalm 91
Sermon: (Frank Eberhardt)
(Reads Romans 10:8-13). Paul reminds us who we are. We may be husbands, fathers or sons, but first and foremost we are children of God. Whether you are a professional worker, self employed or unemployed, you are first a child of God. Fat, skinny, old, young, plain or dazzling, we're first a child of God. A person who believes Jesus rose and that Jesus died for you. A person who confesses with their lips that Jesus is Lord. Drugs and alcohol aren't our lord, controlling our life. That is not your Lord. You are not your lord. We don't experience the joy of Christ sometimes because we can't handle temptation.
The Southwest Airlines commercials showed people peeking in their friend's medicine cabinet and breaking the shelves. The caption says, "Want to get away?" Another one of their commercials showed a business client who was left alone in an office. He went over the desk to read the numbers on a paper. To get a good look, they lift up a jar, but find it has no bottom and all the bb's fell out. These people faced temptation. Real temptation is not funny. Jesus was tempted. If we forget the mission, we forget who Christ is, we forget he is the person of God. Martin Luther said that temptation was like a bird. You can't help that it flies overhead, but you don't need to let it nest and poop on your head.
Success in business is okay, but aggression, self centeredness, and the sacrifice of ethics and personal relationships is bad. If you say "it's all about me, I don't care who hurts, then you have let the bird land on your head. Satan picks on us when we're the weakest. Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness. Israelites got manna in the desert. Why couldn't Jesus get the same? "It's your right to do it," Satan said. But Jesus didn't feed himself. He fed others. The word was in his heart, so he knew he didn't have to live by bread alone. There's always another temptation. The temptation to tell half truths or lies. Satan tells us, "You can get something out of it if you comprimise yourself." He wants us to justify ourselves and make excuses. That's a bad situation. Worship God only and you won't leave the mission you were called to do. Our mission is to be servants, not rulers. A good parent-child relationship is when both parent and child serve one another.
We won't forget the mission. Satan brought Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. He tempted Jesus to jump there and let God protect him. But Jesus said not to put God to the test. Satan says that drugs and suicide are okay. He says that you can sin and "get away with it." He calls sin "alternate lifestyles." But there are consequences for sin, like AIDS.
In 1212, there were the Children's Crusades. They sent children over to Jerusalem. People said, "God will protect the kids and you will be able to take the city." They ended up as slaves or they died at sea. You can't manipulate God. Look at Jesus.
The youth group is going to Mexico to assist building of facilities, to teach children, to show people what it means to be Christian, to show faith in Christ. To show what it is to be Christ.