HARMLESS THOUGHTS: Sermon Study

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The Prodigal Son Suite

Tomorrow's sermon is from Luke 15:11-32. I cannot help but have this song in my head during my preparation:

Keith Green - The Prodigal Son Suite

Parables Will Do A Thing More Bold

Here is a piece of poetry inspired by Luke 8:4-15. I wrote this as I was studying for my upcoming sermon that I will be preaching on Sunday, October 24th, 2021, on this passage.

The stories that our Savior told,
unlike sweet scripts from modern fold
those pictures that our preachers mold,
parables will do a thing more bold.

Good preachers like to make it clear,
but Jesus would those secrets steer
only to hearts that have an ear:
parables are heard by those who hear.

Sown seed: God's Word, so rest assured
a heart that's hard is what's referred
when on trodden path lands the word,
parables are snatched up by a bird.

To stony ground some seed will fly
start quickly, growing toward the sky
no root is there so by and by
parables in shallow hearts will die.

On thorny ground with weeds in play
overgrown lusts put on display
with other loves fed day by day
parables will soon get choked away

But many seeds land in good soil
take root and grow without recoil
the sower cares not for wearied toil
parables will not always spoil.

Good dirt has room for seed's new shoot
tilled, watered, and manured suit
so in the heart God's Word takes root
parables produce abundant fruit.

Dual purpose: sown word to the field.
For many its truth has been concealed,
but those who have produced a yield
parables were God's word revealed.

I hope this is helpful and enlightening.

Harmless Thoughts Podcast Episode 21

Episode Number 21

This is the First "Saturday Unscripted" Episode!

Proverb of the Day is Proverbs 12:1

[1] Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates reproof is stupid. (ESV)

Main Topic: Sermon Prep on Luke 3:1-22 (https://esv.to/Luke3:1-22).

Episode 04 - Sermon Prep and Saturday Update

Episode 04 is now available!

In this episode, I give a personal Sermon Prep Thoughts and my Saturday Update. If you attend my church, this episode might be helpful as it contains some "reviewing" of the previous few sermons at church.

If you don't go to my church, but would like to listen to the actual sermons online, you can visit Edgewood Sermon Audio on Anchor.FM

Compelling Community

Stephen Um, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, is speaking on reconciliation and equality within the church, gospel based and focused equality that flows from all that Christ has done for us. As he speaks on this topic, I believe that he makes a valid point when he is speaking on all that the Church ought to be:

Given our cultural moment, a community like this would be incredibly compelling. It is no secret that we live in a climate where inequality is a growing problem. But the thing is, every proposed solution misses this crucial point. Conservatives typically say that charity or philanthropy is the answer, that individuals should share. Liberals, on the other hand more or less go the welfare route -- the state, with our tax dollars in hand, should share. Now both of these are true -- individuals and the state should share! But both also miss something absolutely crucial (which is why both charity and welfare come off clunky and arrogant, even offensive when you think about it). Both say, "Let me give you what I think you need without taking the time to get to know you, let alone share life with you, so I can just pat myself on the back and return to business as usual with my conscience clear." If reconciliation without justice is oppression ... then justice without friendship is just arrogance! But we can avoid both dangers by sharing our goods and our lives.

Stephen Um (Commentary on 1 Corinthians: Preach the Word Series)

Not Without Pain

"It is naive to think one can function with the simple formula: People have problems and the gospel resolves them. The fact is, the gospel generates in individual lives and in society a new set of problems. One has only to love impartially and hatred is threatened and stirred to violence. One has only to speak the truth and falsehood takes the stand with pleasing lies. Invite persons of different social and economic backgrounds around the same table and the fellowship is strained, often breaking apart ... Plant the cross in a room and the upwardly mobile convert it into a ladder. Evil, by whatever name it is called, will not sit idly by and allow the gospel to transform a community ... Let the preacher, therefore, be encouraged ... when having to deal with those problems which clearly have their origin in the fact that the gospel has been released in the community. A difference is being made, and that is seldom without pain."

F.B. Craddock "Preaching to Corinthians" ~ As quoted by Ben Witherington III in his commentary on 1 Corinthians.

Rampant Individualism

Stephen Um on Discipline…

“There is a cultural aversion to discipline. We’re comfortable with the idea of self-discipline. -- bringing ourselves into line with a certain standard in order to reach a long-term goal like weight loss, eating healthily, or earning an additional degree. We even refer to different branches of knowledge or fields of study as ‘disciplines’ because we understand that it takes sustained focus, hard work, and self-discipline to grasp them. However, we are uncomfortable with the idea of being disciplined by an external force -- someone or something outside ourselves. And the reason for this is rampant individualism. Jonathan Leeman says, ‘[for] the average person in Western culture today: every attachment is negotiable. We are all free agents, and every relationship and life station is a contract that can be renegotiated or canceled, whether we are dealing with the prince, the parents, the spouse, the salesman, the boss, the ballot box, the courtroom judge, or, of course, the local church. I am principally obligated to myself and maximizing my life, liberty and pursuit of happiness… I retain the power to veto everything.’”

Stephen Um, 1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross (Preaching the Word)

power and love

"Like life itself, power is nothing --- worse than nothing --- without love. But love without power is less than it was meant to be. Love without the capacity to make something of the world, without the ability to respond to and make room for the beloved's flourishing, is frustrated love. This is why the love that is the heartbeat of the Christian story --- the Father's love for the Son and, through the Son, the world --- is not simply a sentimental feeling or a distant, ethereal theological truth, but has been signed and sealed by the most audacious act of true power in the history of the world, the resurrection of the Son from the dead. Power at its best is resurrection to full life, to full humanity. Whenever human beings become what they were meant to be, when even death cannot finally hold its prisoners, then we can truly speak of power."

Andy Crouch, as quoted from Playing God by Stephen Um in his commentary on 1 Corinthians

Authority

Stephen Um on authority...

"Authority is not authoritarianism. Authority is the ability to influence others -- the right to give orders and make commands with the good of others in view. Authoritarianism is enforcing strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom. It is 'showing a lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others; domineering; dictatorial.' Authority is having a supervisor who seeks his or her staff's good in harmony with the good of others, leading to personal and social flourishing. Authoritarianism, however, is having a supervisor who demands strict obedience and crushes both individual and social flourishing for the purpose of maintaining control. The problem is that all of the uneasy feelings associated with authoritarianism (which are good and proper!) have been imported into the conception of authority."

Stephen Um (1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross, Preaching the Word Commentary Series)

A Personal God.

From Stephen Um's commentary on 1 Corinthians:

“The idea of a personal God would have been almost impossible for the Corinthians to understand. In a sense it is equally difficult for us. And it is much easier to keep God at a safe distance. If he is just a set of data or a perceived lack of data, then we can treat him like an impersonal force. God becomes a decision that I need to make (“Do I believe in God or not?”) rather than a personal reality with whom I need to reckon.”

1 Corinthians: The WORD of the CROSS by Stephen T. Um

God's Sovereignty is Inscrutable

"God's ways are fathomless. We can't ultimately comprehend the works of God (cf. Romans 11:33-36). Hymn writer William Cowper said, 'God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.' Why does James die and Peter live? We aren't told the reasons. We know that Jesus promised James' death in Mark 10:39, but we're not told why. Surely the church was praying for James, like Peter, yet he was put to death. John, James' brother, lived to be an old man. Sometimes believers suffer terribly, and sometimes God delivers miraculously (Schreiner, 'God's Inscrutable Sovereignty'). We can't predict the ways of God.

"Sometimes those who would be great parents can't have biological children. Sometimes those who are terrible parents keep having babies. Sometimes God answers prayers for healings, and sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer -- at least for a season (Psalm 73).

"While such trials bring much grief and pain, we must not be angry with God. Trials are not necessarily a sign that he's displeased with us. God calls us to trust him, even when life hurts. His ways are wise, good, and just. And we must remember this: God has given us his Son. God doesn't promise to give us an explanation for everything, but he has given us the promise that changes everything: he will raise us from the dead. We will dwell with him in the new heaven and new earth, where sin and suffering can't touch us. God doesn't everything, but through Christ, God has entered into our suffering, has taken the ultimate injustice at the cross, and has risen triumphantly so that all who call out to him may have eternal life. Latch on to this reality in suffering. Glory is coming. It's not here yet, but keep looking to God in faith. He gave his Son for sinners like us, and soon all suffering will end."

~ Tony Merida, Christ Centered Exposition Commentary: Acts