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Sunday – April 6, 2014 “Signs in the Heavens” Thom Rachford

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Sunday – April 6, 2014 – Read the Word on Worship

Signs in the Heavens Thom Rachford from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Word On Worship – Sunday – April 6, 2014 Download / Print

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years”

The Lord has used His handiwork in the heavens to display His glory and provide for time keeping and for seasons and for signs. Times are easy to understand. We mark days by the rotation of the earth and years by its movement around the sun.

Seasons are more difficult to understand. Yes, seasons can mean winter, summer, fall and spring. We do mark them by the positions of the sun and earth. But seasons are more than that. Consider, the horse breeder’s statement that the mare is in season, or consider the baseball season, or a season of peace. Webster’s Dictionary defines season as a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature. The time itself is undefined. It may be long or short. For example, The church age may be said to be a season of Grace.

What about the term sign? A sign, per Webster, is something that gives information through a motion or gesture by which thought is expressed or a command or wish made known. The Lord placed the “lights” in the sky to make known His thoughts, commands and purposes (wishes). The Star of Bethlehem is such a sign in the heavens. The wise men saw the sign and interpreted its meaning. According to Matt 2:2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” They followed up by taking a 700-mile trip extending about 2 years including the preparation.

Are there other signs in the Heavens the Lord has used to fulfill His wishes? Yes, in Joshua 10: 12-13 the Lord made the sun and moon stop in the sky until His purpose (wish) was accomplished and Israel won the battle.

Also for King Hezekiah. When, in 2 Kings 20:9-11, Hezekiah asked for a sign to certify he would live, God said He would move the shadow from the sun forward or back which ever one Hezekiah wished. The shadow moved back. You can also read about this in Isaiah 38:8.

At the crucifixion of Jesus – the sun was darkened. Matthew 27: 45 tells us, “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.” That was three hours, from noon to 3 p.m. Was it only in times past that God caused signs in the heavens for man’s information? Does He do the same today? Yes, tetrads (blood moons) are a modern example of God’s signs in the heavens. How should we respond? Will we be like the wise men who saw the sigh of the Star, recognized it was from God, interpreted the meaning and followed it? Or will we be like the leaders and King of Israel who either paid no attention to the sign in the heavens or if they did observe it, they ignored it for it did not suit their purpose? By ignoring the Bethlehem star, the leaders of Israel put their purpose above God’s.

We are now entering a season of signs in the heavens. Watch and be ready in Christ.

 

Sunday – March 24 2013, “How to Ruin a Dinner Party”

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March 24 2013 – Read the Word on Worship

How to Ruin a Dinner Party from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Do not let the Lord’s Table become more of an opportunity to examine your watch than your heart. We are more focused on schedules in our hurried lifestyles than we are concerned about how we may have betrayed our Lord this past week or how we might betray Him next week. Each of us should humbly contemplate our lives and consider all the ways, big and small, we have betrayed the Lord and confess such weakness. If one of the twelve who spent three years with Jesus could betray the Lord, every Christian has that potential.
Join us tomorrow as we continue our study of the Gospel of Mark 14 and see “How to Ruin a Dinner Party”.

Word On Worship – March 24 2013 Download / Print

 Mark 14:22-24
“While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

The eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup is not a magic ritual. Its consumption brings no automatic guarantee of salvation. If Judas participated in the meal, and there is no indication in the passage that he did not, then eating the bread and drinking the cup must be internalized for it to be of saving value. The new covenant must be written on the hearts of God’s people, not completed by ritual in a stain glassed building. This is not the food of immortality, but a public proclamation of the Lord’s death until He returns.

When we come to this table, we are to examine ourselves just as the original disciples did. The Last Supper was not a sacrament of blessing, but a night of high tension and sweaty palms. Jesus had told them one who sat at the table would betray Him. The gathered disciples did not single out Judas as the guilty party, but rather looked to themselves and asked if it were them. Self examination, not cross examination, is Paul’s exhortation to us in 1st Corinthians 11:27-29 when we gather to partake in this meal. We are only worthy of the Lord’s Supper when we recognize how unworthy we are. Its power is seen when we recognize Jesus has died for us and accepts us in spite of our unworthiness.

Yes, Judas was the one at the table guilty of treason, but none of the disciples are above reproach. Each of them will prove themselves to be an unfaithful servant before the night is done. In truth, the remaining eleven were concerned about themselves. We are no different in our egocentric approach to the table. Our separation and isolation from each other stands revealed before the bread and the cup. The Last Supper calls us to imitate Christ’s self-sacrificing love and should be a moment when we look to heal the breaks in our fellowship.

Do not let the Lord’s Table become more of an opportunity to examine your watch than your heart. We are more focused on schedules in our hurried lifestyles than we are concerned about how we may have betrayed our Lord this past week or how we might betray Him next week. Each of us should humbly contemplate our lives and consider all the ways, big and small, we have betrayed the Lord and confess such weakness. If one of the twelve who spent three years with Jesus could betray the Lord, every Christian has that potential.