Were starting a new series. You may notice the VR (Virtuous Reality) banner is gone. Next week, a new banner will go up; but were starting it this week. Its called Ending the Cold War. Remember the Cold War? Some of our young people might not know what Im talking about. After World War II, we gradually changed from seeing the Nazis as the bad guys to the Russians being the bad guys. In our movies of James Bond, hed fight the Russians. They were the bad guys, and there was a lot of rhetoric going back and forth. Sometimes that rhetoric got pretty intense. There were times when President Kennedy had to draw a line in the sand, like with the Cuban missile crisis. There were times when President Reagan would speak out forcefully against the evil empire. We remember MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction. We remember words like Détente. We remember the Wall coming down and the end of the Cold War as the Soviet bloc, the Soviet Empire, began to collapse. The rhetoric was going back and forth-though there were no missiles going back and forth, they werent actually fighting. There was an escalation; there was a tension; there was a conflict between the West and the Soviet bloc. It was called the Cold War. Much like in the political realm, when countries can have a Cold War and there are tensions and conflict, so too in relationships there can be conflict and tension. There are conflicts in homes where people love each other. There are conflicts in churches where brothers and sisters in Christ are in conflict. Conflicts with friends [occur]. How do we resolve these conflicts? What does the Bible say about conflict resolution? That is going to be our study. Were going to talk about whom our enemy is. Its not one another-thats for sure. Were going to talk about how to resolve conflict. Were going to talk about when we should not resolve, [when] we should not reconcile. There are times when the Bible says not to reconcile. Well talk about those times-like Bears and Packers fans (congregation laughing). It shouldnt happen. Its not healthy. Then, believe it or not, were going to go all the way to Christmas. Well be talking about the gift of the Christ child who reconciled the world to God. Thats also how were going to start off. Were going to start off talking about our mission, our mission as a church-the assignment that God has given us. [Well be talking about] the good news-that there is no Cold War in Heaven. We were once enemies of God, but weve been reconciled to Him through Christ. Our team shared the Great Commission with you today. The Great Commission given by Jesus to those 11 gathered to not just change their city, not just change their region, to not just change their country [but] to change their world. What an ominous task! What an immense challenge that was. How did Jesus present those words that day? How did He bring that challenge to that 11 to literally change the world? Did He do so glumly, solemnly? Did He do so monotone, or was there within His voice an enthusiasm? Was there in His voice something and in His words something that made you want to rise to that challenge and meet and live up to those expectations that He had. The church is Gods Plan A for reaching the world, and there is no Plan B. Could it be that His words were something like the speech were going to see in just a moment? I spent my high school years avoiding Shakespeare like the plague. If there were a class that had Shakespeare as one of the choices on the list, if there was an Option B, I took it; but I kind of wish I hadnt because he wrote some amazing literature. Were going to get a little culture this morning as we watch a clip from Henry the Fifth as he talked to his reluctant warriors about the task that is ahead of them, about the fight that they must fight and about the reward that awaits them. (Heres the link to this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptqev-KEmhU) (Heres the transcript link: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptqev-KEmhU Click under the users name-Whitestrake where it says more info.) I have no idea what he said, but Im excited (congregation laughing). Every time I listen to it now, I catch up a little bit more on what he is saying. There is a cause that is bigger than us men, and were going to rise to it. We band of brothers, were going to rise to it; and were going to change the world. I just imagine Jesus casting that vision. It says, I am with you until the end of the age. We band of brothers, we few, are going to change the world. Those men would go from being a few cowarding and hiding in secret and in fear to men who would boldly stand before governors and kings and proclaim the Gospel of Christ. They would change the world; their commission is our commission; their Savior is our Savior; their challenge is our challenge; their earth is our earth. For the people that we have to reach, that challenge is still before us. To bring people to faith and maturity in Christ is the mission of our church. It is twofold; to make disciples is twofold. You have to go; you have to share; you have to win; and then secondly, you have to grow up. Jesus once compared it to going fishing, Be fishers of men. You catch the fish, and you clean the fish. Catching the fish is called evangelism; cleaning the fish is called discipleship; and a church must do both. If all youre doing is evangelism and youre not disciplining, youll have a bunch of new Christians who never grow up. If all you have is discipleship and no outreach, then youre going to have a bunch of fat, lazy, sassy Christians who arent going out and getting the job done; so a church needs to have both. Of the two, the most important thing we do is to go, to go and share the Gospel. We do that in a couple of ways here in our church. One of the ways we do that is through programs, structures and programs that are in place. Though its not an exhaustive list, Im going to share with you some of those programs right now. There is a slide were going to show. One of the things we do as a church is world missions. Every quarter we cut checks for thousands of dollars to send around the world to missionaries who are getting the job done. Year after year, we send funds into the mission field. Were sending Pastor Sean and Heather to Haiti right now. Were their main means of support for them as they embark on their journey. We send out groups to the mission field. Every other year, we send our youth group on a missions trip; and every other year, we send out our adults on a missions trip to the D.R., Guatemala or wherever the case might be. It is a huge undertaking, and we do that collectively as a church. This summer, at the end of June, we head to the Dominican Republic to share the Gospel with the people of D.R. Then we have our summer camp which is an outreach. We have our Monterey Ministry where we go into the Fourth Ward and minister on Sunday afternoons. We have public school release times-one that we started in Milton and one that we started in Clinton; and we share the Gospel with public school children every week in those settings. We have a new one that is launching in January. Were going to be starting a tutoring program at Wilson School. From Wilson School, that will transition into our time where we teach children the Bible there at the school; so we are thankful that God has allowed this-this open door to the Janesville School System to share Christ. We have our Media Ministry, television that we pay for to send out the messages at our church. We have the website and tapes we encourage you to direct people to by giving tapes to people and sending emails of messages for them to listen to online. We have two nursing homes we go into every week to share the Gospel. We have an outreach called Angel Tree that will happen very soon. Children who have a parent incarcerated, they and their guardians will come to our church and hear a Gospel message, hear of the love of Christ and receive food, gifts and literature. We have an outreach every month in our All-Star Youth Ministry. We also have, of course, our weekend services. Your job on the weekend services is just to get them here-just to get them here, so they can hear that the Word of God is relevant to their lives. Many of them think that church is boring. They find out that church isnt boring. The Bible speaks to issues where you live, that God has a solution for your condition; and there is hope for you beyond the grave-that there is a Savior and God loves you. They learn about the promises that God has for them in His Word. They can do so in an environment that is conducive to listening because many of the stereotypes or many of the reasons why they reject church have been taken away. I dont want to go to church because its a fashion show. We say, You know what? You can be casual. Just come comfortably. If you want to wear a suit, thats great. If you want to wear a dress, thats fine, but you dont have to. You can be casual. When you come, you can be anonymous. You dont have to stand up, raise your hand, tell us your name and tell us about yourself. Thats one of the greatest fears people have-the fear of being made to stand up right now and talk about yourself while the whole group is looking at you. That would be terrifying for you, so you can be anonymous. Youll hear messages that are relevant to your life from the Bible. We will use culture without compromising the message to reach you. Were not going to make a big pitch for money when you come. Its not going to be a lecture on money and five times the offering plate passes you by every service sort-of-thing. When its time to take the offering, were going to just take the offering. A number of things that we do communicated through the arts and through creative arts are to let you know that the Gospel is relevant to your lives. Thats a tool as well, but the most important ingredient-more than programs or structures-do you know what the most important ingredient is in helping us to accomplish this mission? Its you and me. You and I are the most important. There is no substitute. There is no program; there is no structure. All I can do is share and say, Heres what God says in His Word-that you and I are to be about. The bottom line is you are accountable to God. Are you living that out, or arent you? If you are living it out, our church will be affected. No matter how many people we reach for Christ, no matter how many programs we have, no matter how many people you share Christ with, friends, we are never satisfied. It is never enough. One of the proudest moments of my life was when we all gathered in one service about four years ago to launch phase three. Hundreds of us were gathered at Marshall Middle School, and I said, How many of you came to Christ in this church? About 200 hands went up across the congregation. It just blessed me that God had used us in that way; but instead of getting excited about those people that came to Christ, how about the thousands in our community who dont know Him? We cannot rest; we cannot relax; we cannot let up at all. That is the mission of the church. I want to talk a little bit about methodology and how that is accomplished. How does this mission come about? In the Book of Acts 17 (page 1097-98 of pew Bibles), Paul is preaching to the people of Athens. Hes walking around their city, and hes learning. As hes dialoging, hes learning about culture; hes learning about their poets; hes learning about their philosophers; hes learning about their religion; hes learning about the traits. Hes going to use all of that and weave all of that into a message to reach the Athenians. Hes going to tailor his message to the Jews. He would preach the Gospel of Christ crucified as the fulfillment of the prophesy. He talked about how Christ would fill the law; but in speaking to these Athenians, these intellectual elites-this is the hotbed of intellectual elites. This is the hotbed of intellectualism. This is where Aristotle, Socrates and Plato come from. The events that happened in Athens are the topics were still studying and learning about in our schools, colleges and universities. This is where it transpired. These are the men who taught these things. So, Paul has a tall order to convince these intellectual people about the wonders of the Gospel. Im going to read it in its entirety, and then were going to go back and discuss it. Verse 16 (of Acts 17, page 1097-98): While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. His heart broke because he knew that they were lost-that they did not know the true God. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, What is this babbler trying to say? That means birdseed picker. They didnt think a lot of Paul. They thought he was just a gossiper or somebody who went around picking up ideas, taking them someplace else and repeating them there. Others remarked, He seems to be advocating foreign gods. They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus. That was a big, huge hill. Its still there in Acropolis. Its where civil trials [took place]. It was known as the hill of the god of war where He stood on trial, and often gatherers would take place there. So up on this hill, Paul begins to teach. He says, May we know this new teaching youre presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean. Then Luke gives a commentary in parentheses and says, (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) If theyd been alive today, they would be bloggers. Theyd have their own websites. Theyd be dialoging in chat rooms. Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of Heaven and earth and does not live in temples built with hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man… From how many men? From one man. We are all brothers and sisters here this morning. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, We are His offspring. Therefore since we are Gods offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone-an image made by mans design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. Does God suggest repentance? Does God say, Hey, its not a bad idea if you want to think about this? God commands repentance of whom? Of all people. Where? Everywhere. To do what? To repent, to change your direction, to change your mind. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead. When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, We want to hear you again on this subject. At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus… By the way, he would go on to become the Bishop of that region. I believe a basilica still exists in his name. …also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. Damaris means heifer. Im not sure what Mom and Dad were thinking there. So the church began in Athens. Paul, first of all, gave a very clear presentation of the Gospel. Who is God? He talked about whom God is. God is the creator. Then he talked about the Father, He is the one who made you. He made you. He determined where man should live and when man should live. He gives life and breath to everybody. He is the Creator, God. He talked about the work of the God the Spirit, the fact that God can be known and experienced, You can be in a relationship with Him. He is not far from you. He wants you to know Him and Him know you. So, he talked about the work of the Spirit, and he talked about the work of the Spirit; and he talked about God the Redeemer, the Man who came and died and was raised again; the Man to whom we must give an account. He is the One to whom we repent. He is our Redeemer, so God is the Creator; God is the Sustainer; God is the Redeemer. But, its not all God in this drama; its not all God in this play. There is another person involved, and that person is the messenger. In this case, it is Paul. In the great commission, it is you and me because Jesus said, …to the end of the age. So obviously, Hes not just speaking to the 11. They wouldnt live to the end of age. It was to each generation of the church. Christ is with us to be the messenger, to be His mouth piece, to be His ambassador-that God has ended the war. Turn to the book of 2 Corinthians 5 (page 1145) with me as Paul preaches to the church there in Corinth. Chapter 5:17 are very crucial Scriptures. He writes and says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. So who ended the enmity between man and God? Who ended that? Who reconciled? God did. Christianity is not about man trying to reach God through his good works and his own righteousness. It is about God and His love and grace reaching down to a sinful man and redeeming us. He gave us the church, the ministry of reconciliation. …that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting mens sin against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christs ambassadors… We are, not just Him. We are Christs ambassadors. …as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf… There is an urgency to the message. Be reconciled to God. In Verse 2, the Gospel in a verse, God made Him who had no sin… Jesus. …to be sin… On the cross. …to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. That is the Gospel. How did Paul adapt that message to the people of Athens? Remember the Gospel does not change, but the cultures change. The culture of the worlds change; the culture of a country changes over the passage of time. Pastor Sean and Heather in two months will be in Haiti. Their job is not to take the American culture and force it upon the Haitians. Their job is to learn the Haitian culture and share the Gospel in that culture to the people of Haiti. That is what we are to do. How does Paul do it? Paul learns their poets, and he quotes their poets. He uses their culture. Paul learns about their religion, and he speaks about their religion. Paul learns about their philosophy, and he directs his comments to their philosophies. What Paul said flew in the face of the philosophers that were present that day. When we understand who these Epicurean Stoic philosophers are, well understand why Paul said what he said. The Stoic philosophers believed that the world was created by reason-this cosmic force called reason which pervades the universe. Reason determines everything. Basically the world operates by fate. We are helpless; we cant change anything. What will be, will be. The best thing you and I can do-the best thing you and I can do-is just try to enjoy the ride, try to hold on loosely, and dont desire things. When you desire things, it hurts when theyre taken from you. So if you dont desire anything, you dont expect anything, when you dont get it, youre not disappointed. When its taken away from you, youre not sad. Just accept this impersonal fate that pervades the universe. Logic and reason rule. They were the Spocks of the day; they were the Spocks of their time. Logic: is it logical? Thats the only thing that mattered. Did Paul speak to them? Absolutely. He said, Were not here by random chance. Our lives are not directed by fate. There is a personal God. There is a God who made you. There is a God who wants to be involved in your life. Hes not an impersonal force. Hes a very personal being, and He wants you to find Him. He wants you to know Him. He wants you to have a relationship with Him. You want logic and you want reason? How about this? He raised Him from the dead. Thats a fact whether you accept it or not; whether you want to believe it or not, that is what happened. Whether that defies your logic or your reason or not, a man who was crucified, died and was buried rose back to life as proof that He was whom He said He was-that He did what He said He would do. Paul speaks also to the Epicurean philosophers. The Epicurean philosophers believed in the random collision of molecules and chance, and when you died, you were dead. What I am death is not; and when death is, I am not. Thats basically what theyre saying. So Paul addresses them in 1 Corinthians (page 1139). It says, Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow, you die. The highest goal for the Epicureans was comfort, to just live a comfortable life. Treasure your friendships; treasure your life; enjoy pleasure; enjoy comfort because kind of like that beer commercial says, You only go around once in life. Grab all the gusto you can. They actually didnt live lives of debauchery or promiscuity. They actually lived pretty moral lives, but pleasure was their highest goal; comfort was their highest goal because this is it. Just enjoy your life. That's your highest goal. So Paul speaks to them. He says, Listen. There is coming a day when God will judge the world. Youre going to have to give an account for the life you lived. There is an afterlife. Its not, You live your lifespan, you die and youre buried and its done. You have to be accountable to a holy, righteous God. If youre an Epicurean and youre listening and believing Pauls words that day, your response was probably, Uh oh. Uh oh. I better do something. I better change. Our Epicurean Stoic philosophy-is it still around today? Are there still people who say, Well, in my world, there is only reason and logic? My reason and logic does not permit the supernatural. Im just going to write God off, and I dont even want to hear about the Gospel because its not possible for a virgin to conceive. Its not possible for a god to become man. A hypostatic union, thats not possible. So they ride off. Are there people like that today? Do you know some? Sure. Do you know some Epicureans? Their highest goal is pleasure and comfort, their own well-being. Because eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die, do you know some Epicureans? Sure you do. So Paul tailored his message. Now, lets bring that home. Lets talk about it in our area. Our goal is to reach all people: man, woman and child. We dont want to leave anybody out. However, there is a specific group that we really target, not at the expense of the others, but there is a need in our community. We are a very religious region. There are people who have dropped out of the church. Theyre not attending church. What Im about to say is not degrading any denomination or church organization. Instead, Im dealing with a mindset that has a false hope. It is possible to have enough religion to be immune to the Gospel. You start trusting in what you know instead of what Christ has done. Because I know this creed or I know this prayer, I can repeat it. I know this doctrinal statement that Im going to go to Heaven when I die. Because I was baptized; because I was confirmed; because Im a member of this church; or because I live a good moral life; or because I try really hard, and Im a good person… The Bible says our righteousness is as filthy rags. The only thing that saves us is the grace of God. For by grace, we have been saved through faith. It is the gift of God, not by works. Less any man should boast. None of you that can go out and say, Something I did has saved my soul. Christ has saved your soul. The means He has used is grace; the vehicle is faith, and it is the gift of God. So we share that message. It is by grace we are saved. Its not your goodness; its not your knowledge; its not your righteousness; its not the ritual; it is the person of Jesus Christ and Christ alone who saves your soul. You have to come to Him just like the Athenians, and you have to repent. You have to confess your sins before a holy God, and ask for His forgiveness-that the blood of the cross would be applied to your soul and cleanse you from your sin. Pray for His Holy Spirit to come and live inside of you and empower you to live a life that pleases Him. Until youve done that, youre not in a right standing with God. You say, Well, isnt there another way? My answer to that is according to the Bible, according to the New Testament, no, there is not. Jesus did not come to provide an alternative for you. The Son of God did not shed His blood, suffer and die to provide another alternative and a long list of options for you to choose from. For some of you, that might seem offensive. Some who might be listening on television, listening on the Internet or tape might be offended at that and think were narrow-minded; but dont shoot the messenger. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me. Peter said in Acts 4:12 (page 1080), …there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved. This is what the Bible teaches. God determines who accesses Him, when and how. Heres an illustration that I have shared numerous times in this church, and Im going to share it again until you give me a better one. If you have a better one, Im all ears. Who decides who accesses you in your life? Who decides who is going to be your best buddy? Who decides who gets your cell phone or if youre going to have a cell phone at all? Let me see your hands if you decide that-adults now, not kids. Who decides when people call you? Do you decide that? Who decides what the topic of conversation is going to be? Imagine you go to the mall, and you get some early Christmas shopping done. While youre there, this weird-looking character comes up to you. Whatever you envision as weird, thats what he looks like. Maybe he looks like me; I dont know. He comes up to you, and he says, Hey, my name is Huber, and I want to be your best friend. Can I have your cell phone number? Im going to call you. Were going to be buddies, okay? What do you say to Huber? Youd probably ignore him. If he persists on following you and talking to you, youd probably say, Look, Im going to call the authorities. You need to leave me alone! But I want to be your best friend! Im your new best friend! Im Huber. You say, Huber, thats not your call. I wish you well. I hope you have a good best friend, but its not me. You make that decision. Or, lets talk about a friend you do have. How about if that friend calls you this morning at 3 oclock in the morning? You hear the phone ring, and your heart starts to pound. Its 3 oclock in the morning, Whats wrong? Whats going on? Something terrible happened. I just know it. You answer the phone, and its your buddy. He goes, Hey, what about that Bears game today? The Packer game-that was an awesome game, wasnt it? Youre looking at the clock, and youre like, Its 3 oclock in the morning! It was a great game, yeah! The Bears had 100, and the Packers had negative 20, but I dont want to talk about that right now! Some people just shouldnt reconcile. So, you would say, Listen, Im going to go back to sleep. I have to get up for work in the morning, but when I get home, Im going to kill you! It is not acceptable to call me at 3 oclock in the morning and shoot the breeze. So, we determine all these boundaries for our lives: how were accessed, by whom and when. But Im supposed to understand, if the world is correct, that God has no boundaries, that God has no rules. There are billions of people on the planet, and any one of those billions of people can determine how we access God. They can, Well, I believe we come to God this way. Well, I believe we come to God this way. Well, I think its this way. Were all right! Hey! That's not how it works! God certainly has no fewer rights than His creation. God determines whom, and thats all. God determines when, and thats any time. God has determined how, and thats through Christ. We are made right with Him by grace through faith. That is the message of the Gospel, and we have no higher priority than to communicate that to our church, to our city/our region, our world. I hope youll join me in that. I hope, like that speech we saw, youll get excited about that message. It gets me out of bed. It gets me out of bed; it gets me staying in the ministry. For over 30 years, I have been full-time either preparation for ministry or serving as a pastor for full-time ministry-over 30 years! You dont think in that span of time there have been times when I didnt want to go do something else? There have been times where Ive been like, Man, Im tired, or, This is hard! I could make more money doing this. Life would be less of a headache doing that. You know what keeps me going? Its the calling that I have in my life, the calling to preach the Gospel, the joy that I get when I hear that one of you crossed the line of faith and have given your heart to Christ. The joy when somebody says, You know, I thought I was a Christian because I did this or I did that, whatever. Now I found out that its not about me; its about Him. I have to give my heart and life to Jesus Christ, and Ive done that. Im a Christian today. Thats what keeps me going, and I hope thats what energies you. Lets stand together. Were going to pray a prayer of confession and ask for Gods help and strength that we might fulfill His great commission. Whether or not this is the last generation before Christ returns, we cannot say. One thing we can say is that it is the last generation for you and for me. Were not going to get another crack at making our lives count for the Kingdom of God. We need to be giving it our all and not with drudgery or out of duty and obligation, but with that enthusiasm and that joy. We need to transform those reluctant warriors that we saw in that clip to men who are willing to lay their lives down. The words of Christ and the Spirit of God-transform those cowards into mighty men who change the world. God wants to use us to change the world as well. Lets pray together: Father, the first thing we want to do is confess how willfully short we have fallen as a church and as individuals. There is so much more we can do in our world, in our community-so much more we can do as individuals. We ask for Your forgiveness. Sometimes its because we do not understand, so for many, a light has gone off; and they understand what its about. For others, they understand its just simply other things have competed: their job, their hobbies, their sports, their families, their health-whatever the reason might be, their business. So the message of the Gospel has taken a back seat. I pray that we would put the message in the forefront as a church. As individuals, we might recognize that our highest priority is to be followers of Christ and to share Your truth with the lost, dying world; Your light with the world that is in darkness and to do so with joy, with enthusiasm and with faith as we are empowered by Your Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

11-16-08
Speaker: Pastor Jeff Williams
Series: Ending the Cold War