Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sermon Rewind 9/16/12 - Biblical Hospitality


Ruth 2:8-10

English Standard Version (ESV)

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”



Benjie Kim wrapped up the Image series, looking explicitly and specifically at Scripture of how present God's heart for the immigrant is from Ruth 2:8-10. Ruth clings on to Naomi and moves to Judah to become the immigrant/stranger/foreigner. Boaz bestowed a sense of hospitality on Ruth. Biblical hospitality is opening up our home to the stranger. Henri Nouwen defined, “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” We have to know what it means to experience the vulnerability and weakness of the stranger. Chris Cheung, from our NOC family, shared how he found his life changed in his childhood when people poured their lives in him, and in response, Chris and his family opened up his home to a stranger. Chris was a stranger first before he could be blessing to a stranger. We are called to serve the stranger because we were all strangers. We experience the redemption of Christ by being the stranger.

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Sermon Rewind 9/9/12 - Reversing Elitist Perspective


Luke 10:33

New International Version (NIV)
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
Bethany Anderson went deeper into the Image series uncovering a well-meaning form of prejudice: helping the needy out of a sense of elitism.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus subtly points out that it is not the case that "we" must help/save "them."  Bethany took us on her own journey learning that GOD desires for us to engage the immigrant as an equal - a friend, a helper, or even a hero (like the hated Samaritan), rather than as a charity case.

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Sermon Rewind 9/2/12 - All Are In The Image Of God


Acts 10:9-48

New International Version (NIV)

Peter’s Vision

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Corneliusfound out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Peter at Cornelius’s House

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healingall who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues[b] and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Romans 12:2

New International Version (NIV)
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.



Tommy Nixon continued the Image series, recalling Peter’s vision in Acts 10:9 - 48. In the dream, Peter is told by God that he could eat any animal not to call ANYTHING that God has made clean, unpure. Later on, Peter, his heart converted, enters a Gentile’s home and is able to share the Gospel and convert Cornelius and his family. In the same way, we need to be careful how we treat and talk about others, who are all made in the image of God. How often do we harbor hatred and defame others who are different than us, whether it be illegal immigrants or homosexuals? Yet God’s true heart is for us to affirm all beings as wonderfully made in His image, and to treat them accordingly. Where in OUR hearts do we need to be converted and take our personal beliefs and bring them to the foot of the cross?

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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Sermon Rewind 8/26/12 - Least Of These

Matthew 25:31-46

New International Version (NIV)

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Peter Park starts the Image series, with a passage from Matthew 25. The parable of the sheep and goats is about loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself, as Christ honors those who saw the "least of these" in their world, and looked after them. They are the ones who showed Christ in action.  One of the "least of these" in today's modern, politically charged times are immigrants, whether or not they are legal. It is a series where we are to trust God in understanding His heart in reaching out to the undocumented immigrants, and how to put His image of them first - above our prejudices.
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