Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Train Part 2--Tickets and Souvenirs Nov. 13, 2005
Note: This writing taken from pastor sermon notes. Video may be available. See pastor for details, or post in comments.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:20; James 2:5
Last week we talked about God's call to board the train to salvation. We talked about my love of seeing the land go past us on trains and buses, seeing the great land the Lord has blessed us with go by. We talked about how the journey is long, the path narrow but straight, sometimes perilous, and oftentimes scary, but that the tracks are sure and result in a destination beyond our wildest imaginings.
This week, we are going to talk about the tickets to the train, and how we show God we are ready for the kingdom, that we have travelled the full path of the train he intended for us to go.
What are those tickets? Well, the tickets to jump on board are faith, belief, love and repentance. Faith in our conductor. We must want to go to the kingdom, and we must trust the conductor. Obviously, He has been there before. Obviously, He knows what is best, or he would not be piloting. Unlike human pilots, this One knows no error. We have to believe that the Conductor knows the best way for each of us, that He is not going to get us into too much trouble, that He knows the way, even when at times we feel that we may be treading in unknown territory. We have to trust that God knows the path and that He is leading us through certain things for the greater purpose of attaining the kingdom. We have to love the Lord, we have to love our destination, desiring to be with God for ever, to fellowship with Him for eternity.
Lastly, we have to realize when we are on the wrong train. We have to repent and ask to be included in the great Salvation express. We have to admit we have sought other conductors who promised shorter, easier journies, who allowed us to carry the baggage with us. We have to admit we have been and may oftentimes be, wrong. This is very hard, but very necessary, to get on and stay on the train.
Now, what keeps us on the train, what keeps us going, and what gets us into the Kingdom?
First, let's talk about trips. When we go on a vacation or a trip, what do we need? SOUVENIRS! Yep, that's right. We need souvenirs to remind us of the great times we had. We get pictures, we get momentoes, we get all sorts of things. My house is full of them. Likewise, on our journey, we get momentoes and souvenirs, things which we may not think important at the time, but which may become very important to us as time goes by.
We like to show our souvenirs as evidence we have been to places. For instance, mouse ears from disneyland, civil war bullets from gettysburg, all sorts of things to prove we have been somewhere and experienced it. Likewise, God wants us to show some souvenirs of our journey on his spiritual train of salvation and service.
First, we need to show humility (ref. Matthew 5:3). We need to be made humble so we can realize our place in the world. Some of the beautiful wonders I have seen across this great land are humbling. The natural wonders of creation do that to me. The wonders of our imagination God hs given us do that to me. We have to be made humble so we can learn. If we don't acknowledge God as supreme and humble ourselves, why are we going to listen to Him? Humility also means being willing to wait on God, to wait for Him and His time. When we are humble, then we can truly wait for Him and listen to Him. Sometimes part of our journey on the train is a humbling one--realizing culpability in loss, losing something or someone important, having some great item torn from us....but it is a souvenir of our trip we need to have.
Next, we need to have the souvenir of service (ref. Matthew 25:34-5). We need to be willing to help others on, to help them leave their luggage behind. After all, The Lord helped us, as did many others I am sure. God works through our loved ones, He works through their service for us. He worked through ministers with me, great men of faith I have known and worked with. He worked through family members, whose giving nature shows their servants heart. He wants us to help serve as He served us. In that manner, we bring others to the fellowhsip of believers.
We need to not look back, to look forward. (Luke 9:62) We need to stop looking back at the supposed "fun" and "good ol days" of before we were Christians, and instead keep our eyes fixed on Christ and the kingdom. Think about plowing through a field. It takes a lot of focus and work. If we plow forward by looking back, we are going to plow where we shouldn't or we are going to end up bumping into something. We have to keep our eyes fixed ahead, at the destination. We have to keep looking ahead, so we can see the obstacles ahead. If we focus too much on the past, then we end up getting surprised by that tree that just jumped into our way and knocked us over. We must be willing to quit dwelling in the past, so we may see our future. Another part of not looking back is that we want to jump off at every obstacle, at every stop. We might lose focus on what's ahead, and we might drift off the train, then we have to ask to get back on, go through customs, all sorts of rough stuff. So, we need to stay focused on what's ahead, not the past.
next, we need a new suit. When we travel, we want to get new clothes so we look good in a new place. Well, the reference here is John 3:3. We need the new suit of the new birth in Christ, of being Born Again. We have to be remade, to show God our new suit of ourselves in order to gain entrance to the kingdom. God loves to see us in these new clothes. He loves to see us dolled up and dressed to the nines in the purity of repentance and in being reborn.
Lastly, we need what some have called endurance (ref. Acts 14:22). We need to not give in to temptation, or to time. We have to be willing to bear the bumpy rides of ridicule, of missing out on the quick hit, of going through the apin of separation from some friends, of even being separated from those we love, in order to see the kingdom. We have to be willing to take things on God's time, not ours.
We have to give this evidence to God in our travels. We have to give this evidence to God that we have learned what we need to know, that we have grown from our trip along the path of salvation, that we have gotten tthrough the valleys of death and have emerged victorious. That through God, we are victorious.
These souvenirs also act as guideposts and comfort for us. We turn to our evidences of these characteristics when we face trials on the train. WE look for other examples of how we may have faced something similar, and how God got us through. When we look at our souvenirs, we look not only for evidence of our growth, but for the increasing evidence of God growing in our lives. Let me close by telling you a story of a comforting souvenir.
When my grandpa passed, we went through a lot. He was a great man. Caring, funny, a true character in every sense of the word. The summer after he passed, we went to King's Island. Many of us were still dealing with the grief. You know how they take pictures upon entry to King's Island, and you pick them up later. Well, we got ours taken and went to pick it up. I and others in the family were feeling lonely at not having grandpa around any more. Well, in that picture, seemingly in the background, suspended, is a fishing hat. Grandpa wore a fishing hat. There is no trick photography here, no "swamp gas" images. There is a hat in the background just like the one grandpa wore. God sent me that souvenir as a comfort, that Grandpa was still with me, that he was gone physically, but that maybe, just maybe, an extra angel was watching over me.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:20; James 2:5
Last week we talked about God's call to board the train to salvation. We talked about my love of seeing the land go past us on trains and buses, seeing the great land the Lord has blessed us with go by. We talked about how the journey is long, the path narrow but straight, sometimes perilous, and oftentimes scary, but that the tracks are sure and result in a destination beyond our wildest imaginings.
This week, we are going to talk about the tickets to the train, and how we show God we are ready for the kingdom, that we have travelled the full path of the train he intended for us to go.
What are those tickets? Well, the tickets to jump on board are faith, belief, love and repentance. Faith in our conductor. We must want to go to the kingdom, and we must trust the conductor. Obviously, He has been there before. Obviously, He knows what is best, or he would not be piloting. Unlike human pilots, this One knows no error. We have to believe that the Conductor knows the best way for each of us, that He is not going to get us into too much trouble, that He knows the way, even when at times we feel that we may be treading in unknown territory. We have to trust that God knows the path and that He is leading us through certain things for the greater purpose of attaining the kingdom. We have to love the Lord, we have to love our destination, desiring to be with God for ever, to fellowship with Him for eternity.
Lastly, we have to realize when we are on the wrong train. We have to repent and ask to be included in the great Salvation express. We have to admit we have sought other conductors who promised shorter, easier journies, who allowed us to carry the baggage with us. We have to admit we have been and may oftentimes be, wrong. This is very hard, but very necessary, to get on and stay on the train.
Now, what keeps us on the train, what keeps us going, and what gets us into the Kingdom?
First, let's talk about trips. When we go on a vacation or a trip, what do we need? SOUVENIRS! Yep, that's right. We need souvenirs to remind us of the great times we had. We get pictures, we get momentoes, we get all sorts of things. My house is full of them. Likewise, on our journey, we get momentoes and souvenirs, things which we may not think important at the time, but which may become very important to us as time goes by.
We like to show our souvenirs as evidence we have been to places. For instance, mouse ears from disneyland, civil war bullets from gettysburg, all sorts of things to prove we have been somewhere and experienced it. Likewise, God wants us to show some souvenirs of our journey on his spiritual train of salvation and service.
First, we need to show humility (ref. Matthew 5:3). We need to be made humble so we can realize our place in the world. Some of the beautiful wonders I have seen across this great land are humbling. The natural wonders of creation do that to me. The wonders of our imagination God hs given us do that to me. We have to be made humble so we can learn. If we don't acknowledge God as supreme and humble ourselves, why are we going to listen to Him? Humility also means being willing to wait on God, to wait for Him and His time. When we are humble, then we can truly wait for Him and listen to Him. Sometimes part of our journey on the train is a humbling one--realizing culpability in loss, losing something or someone important, having some great item torn from us....but it is a souvenir of our trip we need to have.
Next, we need to have the souvenir of service (ref. Matthew 25:34-5). We need to be willing to help others on, to help them leave their luggage behind. After all, The Lord helped us, as did many others I am sure. God works through our loved ones, He works through their service for us. He worked through ministers with me, great men of faith I have known and worked with. He worked through family members, whose giving nature shows their servants heart. He wants us to help serve as He served us. In that manner, we bring others to the fellowhsip of believers.
We need to not look back, to look forward. (Luke 9:62) We need to stop looking back at the supposed "fun" and "good ol days" of before we were Christians, and instead keep our eyes fixed on Christ and the kingdom. Think about plowing through a field. It takes a lot of focus and work. If we plow forward by looking back, we are going to plow where we shouldn't or we are going to end up bumping into something. We have to keep our eyes fixed ahead, at the destination. We have to keep looking ahead, so we can see the obstacles ahead. If we focus too much on the past, then we end up getting surprised by that tree that just jumped into our way and knocked us over. We must be willing to quit dwelling in the past, so we may see our future. Another part of not looking back is that we want to jump off at every obstacle, at every stop. We might lose focus on what's ahead, and we might drift off the train, then we have to ask to get back on, go through customs, all sorts of rough stuff. So, we need to stay focused on what's ahead, not the past.
next, we need a new suit. When we travel, we want to get new clothes so we look good in a new place. Well, the reference here is John 3:3. We need the new suit of the new birth in Christ, of being Born Again. We have to be remade, to show God our new suit of ourselves in order to gain entrance to the kingdom. God loves to see us in these new clothes. He loves to see us dolled up and dressed to the nines in the purity of repentance and in being reborn.
Lastly, we need what some have called endurance (ref. Acts 14:22). We need to not give in to temptation, or to time. We have to be willing to bear the bumpy rides of ridicule, of missing out on the quick hit, of going through the apin of separation from some friends, of even being separated from those we love, in order to see the kingdom. We have to be willing to take things on God's time, not ours.
We have to give this evidence to God in our travels. We have to give this evidence to God that we have learned what we need to know, that we have grown from our trip along the path of salvation, that we have gotten tthrough the valleys of death and have emerged victorious. That through God, we are victorious.
These souvenirs also act as guideposts and comfort for us. We turn to our evidences of these characteristics when we face trials on the train. WE look for other examples of how we may have faced something similar, and how God got us through. When we look at our souvenirs, we look not only for evidence of our growth, but for the increasing evidence of God growing in our lives. Let me close by telling you a story of a comforting souvenir.
When my grandpa passed, we went through a lot. He was a great man. Caring, funny, a true character in every sense of the word. The summer after he passed, we went to King's Island. Many of us were still dealing with the grief. You know how they take pictures upon entry to King's Island, and you pick them up later. Well, we got ours taken and went to pick it up. I and others in the family were feeling lonely at not having grandpa around any more. Well, in that picture, seemingly in the background, suspended, is a fishing hat. Grandpa wore a fishing hat. There is no trick photography here, no "swamp gas" images. There is a hat in the background just like the one grandpa wore. God sent me that souvenir as a comfort, that Grandpa was still with me, that he was gone physically, but that maybe, just maybe, an extra angel was watching over me.
# posted by Mark : 5:19 AM
