One of the callers on the Intentional Living program said, “I’m a single mom. I’m feeling overwhelmed with life. I’m trying to go to work. I’m trying to raise my kids.” And if you’ve been a single parent, you know some of that stress. You may not be overwhelmed with parenting or grand-parenting. It could be your health, your finances, your work or any number of things. But we feel overwhelmed at times. And I’ve learned over the years in working with people that when we get really overwhelmed, sometimes we can do some stupid things. People have made decisions when they’re overwhelmed that they later look back and say “I shouldn’t have done that,” or “I could’ve made a better decision, but because I was feeling so overwhelmed, it just seemed like the right thing to do.” So, let’s look at six things you can do when you’re feeling overwhelmed with life. 1 – Embrace what you’re facing We usually want to hurry through life; we want to get to the next stage, especially when the current situation is overwhelming. We tend to ask the question, “Are we there yet?” We tend to have an expectation that once we arrive, we’ll have peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (NKJV). When you’re feeling overwhelmed in life – whatever stage you are in – embrace the season that you are in because there’s always lessons to be learned, experiences to help you grow. When we are feeling overwhelmed, we should be able to say, God, I don’t know why I’m going through this. I’m not quite clear on what this experience is going to teach me, but, I’m going to embrace this season of my life. 2 – Picture a better future There is something about being able to see a brighter, more hope-filled future. And I don’t mean only in eternity. God’s mercies are new every morning. The sun is going to come up again tomorrow. You are not always going to be facing the situation you’re experiencing right now. 3 – Understand God’s intentions for you are always good In Jeremiah 29:11, God is saying “Hey, listen! I know what I’m doing. Just relax. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you – plans to give you a future that you’ve hoped for” (MSG). It’s assuring to know God’s intentions for us are always good. 4 – Declare your intentions When I declare, not only what I believe, but what I’m going to do, it’s transformational in my life. Look what Paul says when he’s talking about the declaration of our intention spiritually: “It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word of God, Jesus is my master” (Romans 10:8 MSG). Paul says it’s important “we declare with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead and we will be saved. Embracing and body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead” (Romans 10:9-10 MSG). This passage reminds us God doesn’t need to hear us speak audibly to know what’s going on in our hearts. Declaring it helps us. 5 – Act in faith I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see” (Hebrews 11:1 MSG). We have faith in people we’ve never seen, people we don’t even know. So, why can’t we have faith in a God who is always there for us? 6 – Build confidence When you act in faith, it builds confidence in your life. The first time you got on a bicycle, you acted by faith to be able to ride it. After a while, you had the confidence to be able to get on it and do it. The word intention comes from the Latin meaning to stretch. Intentional living is all about your faith being stretched to its limit – knowing what scripture teaches, taking that step of faith and stretching to that next level. Paul says in Philippians 3:14, “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back” (MSG). He’s saying – I’m going to stretch towards this goal and get it done. www.theintentionallife.com .

Tony Evans In an abundance of caution, we decided to just do my ministry to you today from my den 'cause I want everybody to be safe. I'm just here with one of my family members who has on the camera and has on the mask and the gloves to do this taping 'cause it's important that, you know, we be vigilant in protecting not only ourselves, but the people we love and the people that we are around. So, I'm coming to you in a little bit more intimate environment today to minister God's truth to you. Well, needless to say, we're in a major situation here, a major crisis. But this is more than just about a virus. This corona pandemic is also corona politics. It's corona economics and finance. It's corona government. It's corona sociology. It's corona, you know, athletics. It's corona everything because it has affected the systems of the world. This is much deeper. If you just are only seeing the virus, you don't see all that's taking place right now, and I want to talk to you today about a divine disruption. I want to tell you what's really going on. I shared with you last time, last week the principle of how the world works. Let me repeat it. Everything visible and physical is preceded by that which is invisible and spiritual. So, if you want to address that which is visible and physical, you must identify the cause and the cure to what is invisible and spiritual. Or to put it another way, if all you see is what you see, you do not see all there is to be seen. Something else is afoot here, and it is attached to the spiritual realm. That's why I want to read to you verses 5 and 6 of 2 Chronicles 15. This is what it says. It says, "In those times, there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in. For many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress". Here you have described a world in chaos, individual lives without peace. When they went home, there was family conflict. He said city rose up against city, there was community conflict. Then it says nation rose up against nation, there was international despair. And the common denominator through all of them was chaos, no peace. And I think you will agree everybody's restless right now, afraid, nervous, insecure, no peace. But what ought to catch your attention is the end of verse 6 of 2 Chronicles 15. It says, "For God troubled them with every kind of distress". Wait a minute, God took the blame for what was happening? For God troubled them. God is saying, "I'm behind your lack of peace and your disturbances". In the Old Testament, when God wanted to address the fact that people had departed from him, there would be judgment. With the death of Jesus Christ in history, God recast his relationship to the world. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, "The world was reconciled to God through the death of Jesus Christ". So, now God doesn't rain down viruses, he doesn't rain down fire and brimstone. But we can experience what we'll call the passive wrath of God. That's described in Romans chapter 1, verses 24, 26, and 28. It says, "And God turned them over. And God turned them over". And the third time, "And God turned them over". Because they would on longer take him seriously, because they had departed from him, he just released them to let them see what life looked like without him. So, he just, like a dog on a leash and lets the leash go, he lets you run your own way from him. And then you run into the consequences of that abandonment. You see, what Romans 1 is describing is what happens when an individual or family, a church or a nation departs from him. It creates a vacuum. And we know nature abhors a vacuum, it will be filled with something. And the something that it is filled with when God is not filling it isn't too pleasant. I'd like to suggest to you the coronavirus is filling a vacuum due to the absenteeism of God. Now, we know God exists everywhere, but I'm talking about the relational absenteeism of God. And he says, "You don't want me, you're going to have life without me. But you've created a hole in which, boy, things are entering into it that you really don't want". What we need to understand is that what we are going through today, worldwide and individually, is a divine disruption. He is disrupting the normal, natural, and preferred order of things on every single level. Individual, no peace. They went home, no peace. Cities, no peace. Nations, no peace. This is worldwide 'cause God is sending a worldwide message. What was the problem? There were three problems, there were three causes, if you will, of the chaos that they were going through and that we are going through in this crisis that we face. He says in verse 3 of 2 Chronicles 15, "There was no true God". He didn't say there was no belief in God. He said it was false, no true God. They had replaced the true God with idols and called it god. What is an idol? An idol is any noun, person, place, thing, or thought that you look to as your source independently of the true God. A true god is a false person, place, thing, or thought that becomes your point of reference, and that is called an idol in the Bible. The greatest sin in all the Bible is idolatry because what you've done is removed God's exclusivity clause, When we adopt idols, and they can be sophisticated, they can be technology, money, people, relationships, they can be religion, all of those can be idols. Your career can be your idol, your education and your degrees can be an idol. Whenever that thing is placed alongside of or in front of the God who has revealed himself, it will be rejected by him, a distance will happen from him, and it will open up a hole for wrong things to enter into that space. You see, we like to use the name God. But if you're going to use his name, the information you give must be correct about him. You can't make up stuff, call it God, and think he's okay with it just because you had the right nomenclature. We're living in a day when God has been put on the loop, like those highways that go around a city. We want God close enough to be respectable, far enough not to be bothered with. We want to be able to reference him on Sunday, but we don't need his information, direction, decrees on Monday. We want to say we believe in him, but we're not dictated to by him. And so, we don't wind up with the true God, even when we're praying, singing songs, and going to church. We often wind up doing it for an idol that we use the name God for. He said there was no true God, there was no real God. He had been replaced by false gods, but why? Why was there no true God? Well, verse 3 says 'cause there was a second problem. There was a void of teaching priests. He says there were no teaching priests. You see, a mist in the pulpit is going to be a fog in the pew. When the pulpits fail and the pew becomes confused because of the pulpits failing, then the culture is not going to be led in the right direction. The problem is the failure of the church. Our churches have failed with "thus saith the Lord". We've placated ourselves to the culture and dumbed down the deity by ignoring his Word. We're not teaching what God says, we're teaching what we think. We're teaching people what feels good for them and to them. We're teaching what is preferred and what is popular. What we're not teaching is how God thinks, and what God says, and how God feels on every subject. You see, there are two answers to every question, God's answer and everybody else's. And everybody else is wrong. God has spoken and he has not stuttered. He's done that in his Word, his inerrant errorless book to speak to all issues for all of life, and he's wrong about none of them. He wants to, yes, tell you how to live your personal life. Yes, he wants to define your sexuality for you, not have you define it for yourself. Yes, he wants to define marriage and what it should be and what it should not be. Yes, he wants to define what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman, what it means to be parents, how children should respond to their parents. Yes, he wants to define that. He wants to define how religion is supposed to work, how church is supposed to operate, and how governments are supposed to fare and operate for the citizenry. He wants to define all of that, especially since he says, "I created governments". So, when you go out and you create your own rules about any and all subjects or any other subject you come up with, you have insulted him. And when the pulpits fail to do that, when the pulpits are giving people votes on what God has said like this is majority rule situation when it comes to what he has spoken about, then there are no teaching priests. And we're not conforming people to God's standard, we're just making them comfortable with their own standards, leading to all kinds of confusions that we've already seen in our lives, in our culture, and now in our calamity. He says, "No, there was no teaching priests". No, God wants to speak into the issues of righteousness, and justice, and how to handle the poor, and equity, and economics, and how to handle finances, and all of that. All of that he speaks about. And it's the job of a teaching priest to declare it, to speak it. Yes, with love, but with clarity. There should be no uncertain sounds from the pulpit, not when you're speaking on behalf of God. And his Word must become the new standard. The old book must become the current standard by which all issues are addressed, by which all people must conform and by which all systems must be adjusted. No matter how high they go or how low they go, no matter whether they're political, or social, or economic, or entertainment. When we take the true God seriously, and when pastors and preachers and leaders take what he says seriously and stop kowtowing to the culture and start speaking with spiritual authority and Holy Ghost guts, so that the people know God has spoken here. And I'm going to conform it from church, and then I'm going to go public with it in society. Yes, letting people know we care, we love them, and we want their best, but the only way I can give you my best is to give it to you based on what God says. So, we live in a world where the truth of God is being watered down, dumbed down. And so, it's being camouflaged while we still quote verses or reference God. But the God of the Bible is being lost because we're leaving the Bible out while trying to keep God. You can't do it. God has raised his Word above his name. You must take this Word seriously, that is if you want to take solutions seriously. This must mean that the pulpits must preach in such a way that it overrides what people think, it overrides what your mom and daddy taught you, it overrides what your professors have to say, it overrides what the media is trying to promote when it disagrees with him. No, this is not a time for sermonettes. This is the time for serious communication of thus saith the Lord without apology, but with love, with caring, with understanding, and with compassion. So, we started off by saying there was no true god, the true god had been replaced by false religion. And that's because there were no teaching priests. I mean, the church, it's supposed to be more than just sitting on a hill. It's supposed to be influencing the environment. And then it says, there was no law. In other words, people had no guidelines to govern their actions. You hear people going around today talking about, "Well, this is my truth. This is what I think. This is how I feel. This is what I believe". No, you don't get to believe apart from God. You don't have truth that disagrees with God because then you call God a liar. And you know how we feel when people call us a liar, don't you? How do you think God feels when folks say, "You're a liar 'cause I believe this, God, even though you said that, and I'm going to go by what I believe, not what you said". Well, you just said, "God, you're a liar. I know more than you. I'm going to tell you how we're going to do this". It says there was no law. So, guess what they wound up with then, and guess what we have now? Chaos, distress that God allowed, not because he's raining down viruses, but because we dismissed him. And so, it's opened the door for viruses and other things that bring about dismay and confusion and conflict, and yes, what he says here is, lack of peace. Well, that raises the question, doesn't it? Is there a solution? If God is the cause, and thus God is the cure, what's the cure for the cause? Well, verse 4 of 2 Chronicles 15 tells us, it says, "But in their distress, they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought him, and he let them find him". Did you see that, did you hear that? In their distress. Well, that's the same thing that was spoken of in verse 6, God caused their distress. Then it says, "In their distress". So, let's look at that word "distress". God used the distress to create the distress because it was the distress that put them in distress that they wanted to get out of. Let me say it another way. God will let things get as chaotic as they need to get until he gets our undivided attention, not because he wants to be mean, but he wants our attention. We do that with our children, right? We make things inconvenient until they pay attention. This virus is a health crisis. We need to listen to our health leaders, we need to keep not social distancing, that's not the best word, it's physical distancing. 'Cause we still need to be socially connected 'cause technology will keep us connected, but we need to keep our space, yes, and we need to be aware of the symptoms and act accordingly. Yes, we must be wise in that. But don't think that that's all you're dealing with, all we're dealing with as a society and a world. No, we're dealing with something much deeper. In their distress, they cried to the Lord, they sought him. You know what God is wanting now? He's wanting a return to him from your life, with your family, with our churches, and with the government. Yep, even the government since he created government. He wants a return to him. He doesn't just want us using his name, doing an introductory prayer. No, he wants to set the agenda, call the shots, and have us adjust our plans to what he says should happen. That's what he wants. He wants conformity to his will, submission to his authority, and a relationship with us as his people. They sought the Lord their God. How do you seek him? You pursue a relationship while simultaneously submitting to his authority, those two things. You pursue a relationship while simultaneously submitting to his rule, his authority, where he has the last word over your word, over your thoughts, over how you were raised. Their distress woke them up, and we better get right with God so our distress and lack of peace can be corrected by the God who gave us the distress. And it says he let them find him. You know why? Because that's what he's after all the time. He's after that, he's after this relationship. But we're out of alignment, we're not in alignment with him. And he's letting us know through these things that happen. Yeah, I know that a lot of people will dismiss this 'cause it doesn't look like, okay, it sounds more religious than practical to the virus. No, it is at the core of the issue of the virus. So, I want to challenge you now. I want to challenge you to make knowing him, drawing near to him, connecting with him your goal. He's giving you a direct route, by the way. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, born of a virgin, lived the perfect life, died a substitutionary death in your place for your sins, to give you the gift of eternal life and connect you with the Father. And anybody who comes to Christ for the forgiveness of sins and for the gift of eternal life, he'll grant it to you for free. Don't have to earn it, can't work for it, but he's giving it away. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation, you will ignite a relationship with God. And then as you cultivate that relationship, reading his Word, reading the book of John, reading Isaiah 40 to understand how he's in control of everything, and using this Word to get to know that God through his Son, you'll begin to see he can speak peace while we wait on him to solve problems. Well, I'm in the den of my home. I was married to my wife for 49 and a half years. Of course, a few months ago, she went into eternity due to a bout with cancer. But I was reflecting on how we met. When we met, I saw this lovely young lady, but she was not responding at the rate to which I was accustomed. Girlfriend was moving a little slow, so I had to help a sister out. I had to help her out. So, I took her to an amusement park in Baltimore, Maryland, called the Wild Mouse. Wild Mouse was a rollercoaster for two. It did all those rollercoaster things, but it did something else, it acted like it was going to jump off the track and then turn real quick. I said, "Give me two tickets". They gave me two tickets. We got on the Wild Mouse. The wilder the ride got, the closer she got. By the time the ride was over, you thought only one person got on it. See, I created distress 'cause I wanted her to get closer to me. You see, that's what God does, he creates distress 'cause he's after relationship. But he knows as long as you don't have that distress, you're going to stay on your side. He doesn't want you that far from him. May God bless you as you pursue him and as our culture learns that the God who causes the distress also alleviates the distress when we return to him. Preached at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship online. How do you seek God? You pursue a relationship while simultaneously submitting to his rule, his authority, where he has the last word over your word, over your thoughts, over how you were raised. Distress will wake you up. We’d better get right with God so our distress and lack of peace can be corrected by the God who gave us the distress. You know why? Because that’s what he’s after all the time. He’s after this relationship. But we’re out of alignment, we’re not in alignment with him. And he’s letting us know through these things that happen. Preached at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. www.sermons.love .

What do you look for when you look for a church that is a good fit for you? Maybe it’s the music? Maybe it’s the preaching? Maybe it’s the children’s ministry? 5 STARS! A quick scan through Google reviews of churches will give you a sense of how most people judge churches. Here is a sampling of real reviews from churches around our city: ·       I have two small boys ages 3 and 6 who can’t get ready fast enough to go to church on Sundays because of the attention they place on kids. From the pastor to the coffee shop, everything rates 5 stars!!! ·       The breakfast servers only greeted people they knew. It made me feel awkward at first. 1 star. ·       The full ultimate experience: great for the family, great for the kids. 5 stars. ·       Can never get to talk to the pastor. Think it has gotten too big for the 1 on 1 time we used to get at the end or beginning of the service with the pastor. It is almost like trying to visit an actor. 2 stars. ·       Child care exceptional. 5 stars. ·       It was too commercial. It didn’t feel like a church. 2 stars. ·       On Easter after waiting in line for over 2 hours with my 3 & 4 year old to do the Easter egg hunt they couldn’t participate. I’m waiting for a sincere apology from you guys and/or an opportunity to correct your mistake or I will be going to every news station in the state explaining how a disabled veteran and his 2 toddlers stood in line for over 2 hours just to be turned away. IF JESUS WAS ABLE TO GIVE FISH AND BREAD TO ALL THE MASSES, YOU SHOULD OF BEEN ABLE TO MAKE SURE ALL KIDS HAD EASTER EGGS. 1 star. ·       They may have the best stage set up I’ve ever seen in my life. I absolutely love the light show and the humongous TV screens! If you’re looking for a church with great music and message this is the place to go! 5 stars. ·       Everyone is friendly, the services are amazing, the band is outstanding, and the kids programs are unbelievable and the kids learn so much. 5 stars. ·       Best women’s community. 5 stars. ·       I didn’t get a very welcoming vibe. Neither did my husband. It just was not for us. 2 stars. ·       Very nice gymnasium. 5 stars. ·       I don’t feel that you can grow here at all hubby and I came because its close and we can walk or take the bus but it’s not for us. Very boring service, can’t get to know people, and if you need help they judge you and ask way too many questions. 1 star. WELL TRAINED CONSUMERS Whether positive or negative, these reviews demonstrate how well we have been trained as consumers of churches. We are connoisseurs of religion. Like a wine critic who judges the balance, depth, complexity, and finish of a vintage, we swirl our experience of a church in our glass and judge its balance of ministries, the depth of its teaching, the complexity of its offerings, and how it makes us feel at its finish. We are consumers. Very well-trained consumers. Jesus grieves the way we consume the church. He invites us to a better way, he invites us to be contributors, not consumers of the family of God. When Paul writes to the church at Corinth, he corrects their misunderstanding that the spiritual gifts God has given them are for themselves. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good,” Paul says ( 1 Corinthians 12:7 ). In other words, God has given you gifting to bless the church. A couple paragraphs later, Paul says, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Your identity is entwined in your relationships with other Christians in the context of the local church. There is a word of correction here for pastors and for Christians. A WORD OF CORRECTION TO PASTORS First a word of correction to church leaders: the church is not a platform for our gifts. The church is not our audience. They are not there merely to be taught and pumped up. All of the vision and direction from a church shouldn’t come from us. I’m not Moses, and you’re not Elijah. We are fellow members in the body of Christ. And we are not the sole purveyors of ministry in the local church. We are tasked “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” ( Ephesians 4:12 ). Let me ask you, are saints in your church doing “the work of the ministry?” Are saints in your church “building up the body of Christ”? Or have you reserved those tasks for yourself? We as leaders are called to train up others. We are called to deploy the body in their gifting. A WORD OF CORRECTION FOR CHRISTIANS Christians, God saved you not just to be in relationship with him, but in relationship with his family. And he has given you spiritual gifts not for your own edification, but for the edification of others. If you are not serving in a church community, you are not walking in the fullness of who God created you to be. One reviewer of a Tucson church, upset with their experience, said, “This is why I worship God at my home.” That isn’t an option for a follower of Jesus. It’s the equivalent of being adopted by a father, but refusing to move into his home and have a relationship with his kids. That’s not how adoption works. Our first evaluation of a church shouldn’t be what the church offers us, whether that is the preaching, the worship, or the various ministries. Our first evaluation ought to be framed with a question: where is God calling me to serve these people? How can I use my gifts to honor Christ and build up my brothers and sisters? You were made for more. You were designed by your Savior to be a contributor, not a consumer. New Life’s Culture Statements: 1.       God is big and God is good 2.       The gospel changes everything 3.       The Bible is our source 4.       God loves you and your neighbor 5.       We are contributors, not consumers 6.       Character outlasts charisma 7.       Life is better together 8.       Big church, small feel 9.       Healthy churches multiply www.thebeehive.live . Used by permission.

Andy Stanley Moving Forward from a Crisis One of the reasons we respect the people that we respect most is their response to this, to adversity, right? The people that we respect the most are generally people who've walked through a fire or two, maybe through the valley of the shadow of death. We respect people who've been hurt, but who didn't hurt back, who were treated unjustly or unfairly, but who didn't strike back. We respect people who've faced extraordinary health challenges, but didn't lose their love for life, they didn't despair. They exercised their superpower, their superpower. It's a power that we all have and when exercised, it actually keeps us from becoming like our enemies, it keeps us from reflecting our circumstances. It thwarts evil, our superpower allows us to redeem suffering and your superpower is why you can be better for it. We'll come back to that in just a minute. Now, this is the final episode of our series, "Better For It", and I chose this topic because while we're all ready for things to get back to normal or maybe a new normal. We would all agree that all of this pain without any gain would certainly be a shame. So, we're pausing to ask the question, what have we learned and what have we observed that we wanna carry forward or to the point of our series, how, how can we be better for it? What have we been doing or what were we doing that almost led to our undoing that we need to stop doing? Or the second way of asking it is this, what should we begin doing that we should've been doing all along? Because again, it would be tragic to forget the lessons we've learned and it would certainly be tragic to lose the perspective that we've gained. So, last week I talked about how to ensure that you can be better for it and I talked about why we can all be better for it, regardless of what it is. And the reason we can be better for it, is we all have, as I just mentioned, we all have a superpower. We all have a special ability that empowers us to be better for anything that life throws at you or actually anything that life has thrown at you. And our superpower, our superpower, is our respond ability, our respond ability. Our ability to respond rather than react because your ability to choose a response rather than have it dictated to you or your ability to choose something rather than just do what's expected of you or to simply model what you've seen done, your ability to respond allows you to dictate and influence your own future because and you know this. In fact, we've all seen this. To simply react, to simply react to circumstances, it sets us up to reflect those circumstances. Haven't you seen this? You've seen people go through very difficult circumstances and instead of choosing a measured response, they simply reacted and now months later, maybe years later, they reflect the circumstances they didn't even choose. When we react, and this is the point of today's message, when we simply react, we actually relinquish control of our lives and we ultimately relinquish control of our destiny and our legacy. But a measured response, a measured thought through response ensures that that doesn't happen. But as we said last time, there's a catch. There's a reason we missed this and that's the reason we're talking about it. And here's the catch. The response, the response that has the potential to reverse the natural course of things, isn't natural. The response that has the potential to reverse the natural course of things, isn't natural. Or another way of saying it is this, the catalytic response is the least intuitive response. The response that makes the most difference in a positive direction is the response we are least likely to choose and most often we are tempted our tend to miss. So to illustrate this and to drag us deep into the context of this, and the emotion of this, last week we began a story that many of us are familiar with. It's an Old Testament story, the story of Joseph, a young man who exercised his superpower for about 25 years before the story is ultimately resolved. And his story I think better than any other story I've ever heard in any literature, his story illustrates the sustaining, the course reversing, and the sanity preserving power of a measured response. And like me and like you, Joseph didn't know the end of his story. In fact, Joseph didn't even know there was a story worth telling, but throughout his story and throughout his circumstances, he chose the catalytic response, the unusual response, the unexpected response. So, you're probably familiar with the story, but let me catch you up to where we left off last time. Here's basically Joseph's resume, here's a synopsis of his life so far. Joseph Jacobson, kidnapped once by his brothers, sold twice, first to slave traders and then he's sold once again when he gets to Egypt, then he's framed for a crime that he ultimately didn't commit and the reason he was punished was because he wouldn't commit the crime. Potiphar's wife, his master's wife accused him of trying to rape her because he wouldn't go to bed with her and then ultimately he's in prison. So basically this is his resume so far and again, to catch you up at this point in the story, nobody's looking for Joseph, nobody's looking out for Joseph. And perhaps that's where your story intersects with Joseph. And yet in spite of these unbelievable circumstances, I mean any one of those things would be enough. In spite of all that, Joseph continued to respond, Joseph continued to respond as if God was with him. And that brings me to the question we left off with last time, the question we're gonna end with this time as well. How would someone, how would someone in your circumstances respond if they were absolutely confident that God was with them? How would someone in your circumstances respond? You know how people in your circumstances normally react. You know what's expected of people in your circumstances. You know what's been modeled for you. But how would someone in your circumstances respond if they were absolutely confident that God was with them? That there's more to the story than meets the eye, that your current circumstances are simply a chapter, they're not the entire story. So back to Joseph's story. Following the rape accusation, Joseph's master, Potiphar, imprisons him and we'll pick up the story there. Joseph's master took Joseph and he put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in prison and here it is again, but while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him. While he was being punished for something he wouldn't do because he wouldn't do it, this is the craziest part of the story to me. While he was being punished for something he wouldn't do because he wouldn't do it, the Lord was with him. While he's being treated unjustly, while he's being treated unfairly, God is with Joseph. See these are the moments when we wanna say, "God where are you, where are you"? And God says, "I'm right here with you". But it doesn't feel like you're right here with me, it doesn't seem like you're right here with me, where are you? And God would say, "I'm right there with you". So while Joseph was in prison the Lord was with him and God showed him kindness. Now, the word translated kindness in our English text, in the Hebrew text it actually means loving kindness, it's a covenant word. And in fact, throughout most of our English Old Testament, it's translated loving kindness. And the implication is that Joseph considered himself in some sort of covenant relationship with a God who had done nothing for him lately. In fact, what did this loving kindness look like? Well, the author continues and he tells us. Here's what loving kindness looks like. He showed him kindness and He granted him favor. If only it had stopped there. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden, which is a problem for us. Because in our way of thinking, if God is with you and if God is for you, you do not have a relationship with a prison warden. In fact, if God is with you and God is for you, you're not in prison. You're certainly not in prison because you've been accused of something you didn't do and found guilty of something you weren't guilty of. someone else for a change". Like, God, god be with my brothers or God go be with Potiphar's wife. I need a break from all this with. Well months go by, years go by, there's no weekends off, this doesn't feel like a story, doesn't feel like it's going anywhere and of course, Joseph certainly isn't going anywhere. And then seemingly, totally unrelated, Pharaoh's baker and Pharaoh's butler have a falling out with Pharaoh and Pharaoh is so angry with them, he puts them in prison and he puts them in the same prison where Joseph is. And then the story has a strange twist. The captain of the guard who was assigned to running the prison, assigned the butler and the baker to Joseph and Joseph attended them. And after they had been there for some time because a lot of times it was by in the story, the story's compressed like most narratives, the butler and the baker, Pharaoh's butler and baker have disturbing dreams on the same night. And Joseph notices that they're disturbed by something and it's kind of a funny part of the story, I mean, here they are in a dungeon. And so Joseph is serving them breakfast one morning and he actually says, "Hey guys, why do you look so sad today"? To which they could've responded with, "Well let's begin with the fact that we're in a dungeon", but that's not in the text. So Joseph says to them, "Why are you so sad today"? And both of them share that they had a very disturbing dream, a vivid dream, they can remember the details. They're both convinced that the dreams mean something, but they have no idea how to interpret their dreams. And then Joseph responds with this, he says, "Do not interpretations belong to God"? Do not interpretations belong to God? He's still believing, he's still trusting, even in the midst of these crazy circumstances, he's continuing to respond rather than react. And then he says to the butler and the baker, "Tell me your dreams, tell me your dreams". So, the wine taster, the butler went first and he tells Joseph this elaborate dream and Joseph smiles and he says, "I've got some good news for you, three days from now, three days from now, Pharaoh is gonna lift up your head and restore you to your position". And of course, the butler doesn't know if Joseph's just making this up, but this is certainly a positive outcome to his dream and it's at this point in the story, we discover something about Joseph that's true of all of us. As much as he had a sense, perhaps, that God was with him, he was not enjoying these circumstances. He despised his circumstances. He was not some sort of superhero, even though he had a superpower. He was not immune to pain and he says to the butler, "Look, when your dream comes true, when you're finally out of here, when all goes well with you, remember me, remember this conversation and show me kindness". Perhaps a different kind of kindness than my God is showing me at this point. Mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrew's, I was kidnapped, and even here, I've done nothing to deserve being put in this dungeon. So even though God was with Joseph, Joseph felt what we would have felt. He was as frustrated as we would be and he says to the butler, "Look, you are my only way out, remember me when this dream comes true". Well meanwhile, the baker's sitting there hearing all of this and he's thinking, "Hey, my turn, my turn". So Joseph says, "Okay, tell me about your dream", and the baker again explains this very detailed dream and when he's finished, Joseph shakes his head and he says, "Gee, that's a tough one. I'm afraid I can't help you". Actually that's not what he said, but that's probably what he should've said. He looks at the baker and he says this, "Well, here's what your dream means". Within three days, Pharaoh isn't gonna lift up your head, he's gonna lift off your head and he's going to impale your body on a pole. He's going to impale your body on a pole. A little TMI, right? Well apparently Joseph was in a really bad mood that morning and he should've just stopped with that, but he didn't and he continued and he said, "Oh yeah, and there's more to your dream. And the birds will eat away your flesh". Have a nice day. Anybody else need a dream interpreted this morning? Well sure enough, three days later, it's Pharaoh's birthday and just like Joseph predicted, he restored the cupbearer and he beheaded and impaled the baker. And now, think about it, Joseph waits expectantly. Because he knows what's gonna happen. As soon as these dreams come true just as he predicted, he knows that the butler's gonna go to Pharaoh and say, "Pharaoh, you're not gonna believe this, while I was in your dungeon, sorry to bring that up, while I was in your dungeon, I met a Hebrew boy who predicted this would happen". So every time somebody bangs on the door of the dungeon, Joseph thinks, "This is my day, I'm out of here". Every time there's a guest, every time there's a visitor, every time the warden calls his name, he thinks, "This is the day I'm out of here". But the text tells us that the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph and he forgot him. And yet this is the young man, now this is the older man, he's in his late 20s by this point that God was supposedly with. Two years go by, he's 30 years old and then suddenly again, unrelated to anything happening in the dungeon, Pharaoh has a series of disturbing dreams. Nobody can interpret the dreams. And finally, the butler remembers Joseph and he says to Pharaoh, "Hey Pharaoh, you remember a couple of years ago we had that falling out, hate to bring that up, you put me in the dungeon, which I'm sure I deserved, but while I was there, there was a Hebrew young man and he interpreted my dream correctly". And the text tells us that immediately, Pharaoh sent for Joseph and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. And when he had been shaved and they changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream and no one can interpret it, but I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it". And what comes next are perhaps the most courageous ever spoken by anyone in history. Here's this foreigner, for whom God had done nothing for lately, this is his big break, he hasn't smelled this good or looked this good in years and Joseph looks at the most powerful man in the world, his ticket out, and he says, "I cannot do it". I cannot do it. And I think the butler is over in the corner and he's squirming like, "Oh no"! Joseph replied to Pharaoh, he should've just stopped with, "I can't do it", but God, but God, but God... The problem with this is simply that Pharaoh thought he was a god. And Pharaoh believed in other gods and clearly the Gods of the Egyptians were more powerful than the Hebrew gods. And now here's this foreigner who has this one opportunity for freedom and he says, "Pharaoh, I can't do it, but my God can". My God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires. Well, I think everybody at that moment in the royal courtroom thought this was the end for this young Hebrew boy, but fortunately for Joseph, Pharaoh was more curious than he was offended. And so he explains these two dreams to Joseph and Joseph listens patiently. And then it's quiet and he looks at Pharaoh and he says, "Pharaoh, here's what you dreams mean. For the next seven years, there is going to be an abundant grain harvest in Egypt. There's gonna be so much grain you are not even gonna know what to do with it. But after those seven years, those seven years will be followed by a famine and nothing's gonna grow". In fact, the abundance will not even be remembered. The seven years of plenty will not even be remembered because of the famine that follows because it's gonna be so severe. He's silent, no one says anything. And then Joseph does the unthinkable, he leans in and he begins to tell Pharaoh what to do, he begins to advise Pharaoh and he says, "Pharaoh, here's what you need to do, you need to appoint somebody and put them in charge of this problem, there needs to be somebody who wakes up every single day focused on solving this problem and preparing Egypt during the seven years of plenty for the seven years of famine". Well, the plan seemed good to Pharaoh and it seemed good to all of his officials, so Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God", and then this is so amazing, and then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God, your Hebrew God, since God has made all of this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you, you shall be in charge of my palace". He makes him the Prime Minister of Egypt. You shall be in charge of my palace and all of my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect, only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you and I'm making this up, I think perhaps Joseph thought, "Yeah, that's what Potiphar said as well". Anyway, so Joseph goes to work, he begins preparing Egypt for the seven years of famine. In fact, the text says that Joseph began to store up such huge quantities of grain, it was like the sand of the sea. It was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure. In fact, what he did was brilliant, he built store houses in all the major cities and purchased the grain from the people and again, as there was more and more grain, the price kept dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping, so he stored up all of this grain, seven years after this time of plenty, the rain stopped, nothing will grow. The people of Egypt begin to starve and he opened up these store houses in these primary cities and he began to sell grain in Pharaoh's name to the people. Well, as is the case with all famines, it spread across the borders, it spread to the surrounding regions, and up North of Egypt where Joseph's family lived, Jacob and his sons, Joseph's brothers, they began to starve as well and this is where the store takes a very interesting twist. Here's what happens next. When Jacob, Joseph's father learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other? Do something. I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we live and not die". Again, if you've heard this story, you know what happens next. But I mean, there is so much drama because now the stage is set, fortunes have been reversed. Joseph is 40 years old. His brothers have not seen him since he was 17 years old and this will be the ultimate test of Joseph's superpower. This will be the ultimate test of his willingness to respond rather than react. And everybody that knew or knows his story, knows exactly how he's expected to react. And if we can put ourselves in his position, we know exactly what we would probably do if we were Joseph. The story continues. Now Joseph, by this time, is the governor of the land, he's the second most powerful person in Egypt, which means he's for all practical purposes, the second most powerful person in the world. He was the governor of the land and the person who sold the grain to all his people, so when Joseph's brothers arrive, they bow down to him with their faces to the ground. And as soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them. But he pretended to be a stranger. Imagine this moment. He remembers the terror of having his clothes stripped from him when he's thrown into that empty well, he remembers the dampness of the pit and the fear of wondering, "Are they going to abandon me here"? He remembers the lear of the slave traders, the humiliation of being sold on an auction block. He remembers the hopelessness of prison, and then he remembers the despair at being forgotten by the butler. And then he does the most remarkable thing. For a while as he's trying to make up his mind, he toys with his brothers, he actually finds out from them that their father is still alive, he finds out that they have a brother that's not with them, Benjamin, and so he sends them back. He keeps one of them as a hostage, it just goes on and on and on, chapter after chapter, as he's trying to decide what he's going to do and trying ti decide have they really changed and are they still the brothers they used to be? And finally, after this long back and forth situation that's so fascinating, there's so much detail in the text, he finally at the end defies expectation, he defies certainly his own instinct and his own emotion and he employs his superpower one more time. They're gathered with him, by this time they had brought Benjamin, so there's all 11 brothers, he sends everybody else out of the room, they are on their knees and suddenly they are alone with the Prime Minister of Egypt and they are so confused. And he stares at each of them. And then he announces, imagine this, "I am Joseph, I am Joseph". And they look up and they see that 17 year old in the face of that 40 year old man and they realize and before they can say anything, Joseph says, "Is my father still living"? The text says of course, but his brothers, his brothers were not able to answer him because they were terrified, they were terrified at his presence. But they did not need to be terrified in his presence because in their absence, Joseph had lived every single day of his life as if God was present. And now, when it counted most, Joseph once again, chose not to react, but to respond and he forgave his brothers. The text says this, "Come close to me", he said. And I'm sure that took a while don't you think? Come close to me and he said, "I am your brother, Joseph". And I guess he just can't help himself, "the one", you remember the one, "you sold into Egypt". But now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. Can I pause and just say something about this real quick? When we are able, when we are able to believe and when we are able to respond as if God is with us, we gain a perspective on what's behind our circumstances that we can't gain any other way. And this is such a powerful reminder of that because Joseph is able to come to the conclusion, the reason I'm here, the reason I went through everything I went through, God had a plan in my suffering, God had a plan in the injustice, God had a plan in circumstances that I would not have chosen for myself. God had a plan for me being forgotten, God had a plan for me being sold, not once, but twice. When we choose to respond, looking back, we will have a perspective on our suffering that we cannot gain any other way. And if all we do is react, not only will we not be better for it, we will never have the perspective that allows us to move successfully into our future. Now, what nobody knew about this encounter was that God's entire plan of salvation for the world, hung by the thread of Joseph's response. That before him is the Nation of Israel, the 12 brothers represented the 12 tribes of Israel and Joseph did what and the 12 tribes of Israel that would become the Nation of Israel that ultimately through him, that nation would come the Messiah, the Messiah who would do for the world exactly what Joseph did that day for his brothers. And this is why I said last time and this is why I hope you'll never forget, never ever ever, never underestimate, never underestimate the power of a measured response. Never underestimate the power of a measured response. Well, the story wraps up this way, Joseph brings his entire family to Egypt and he provides for them for years and years and years. Eventually, his father, Jacob, dies. And once they buried Jacob and they had this elaborate funeral, and they all come back to the land of Egypt, his brothers get together, the 10 brothers that sold him into slavery get together and they realize uh oh, perhaps Joseph was just waiting for our father to die before he exacts his revenge. And so they go to Joseph and the text says this, his brothers came to him and they threw themselves down before him and they said to him, "We are your slaves". But Joseph continues to respond rather than react and here's what he said, these famous words. But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God"? Am I in the place of God? Guys, don't you understand? That God was in this, that God worked through this. Am I in the place of God? The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, it's written this way, do not be afraid, for I am God's. Do not be afraid, I belong to God and since I belong to God, who am I to act like or to step into the place of God. "You intended", he said, "You intended to harm me". That day when you kidnapped me, that when you stripped me of my clothes, that day when you threw me into that empty well, you had the power, the odds were in your favor, there was evil in your heart, you created circumstances that generally transform victims into perpetrators. But not this time. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. "To accomplish", he said, "To accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives". Don't ever ever ever forget this. Don't ever forget this. God's intention, this is amazing, God's intention became a reality through one man's catalytic unprecedented circumstance defying responses. Responses, listen, none of which seem significant at the time. Drop into his story and take any one of his responses, none of his individual responses seemed all that significant, but all together, they were part of the unfolding story of my redemption and yours. God's plan of salvation for the world. Here's the thing, our superpower, our respond ability gives us the potential to be better for it, whatever it is. And you know this, we don't get to choose the it, that's part of the problem, right? We don't choose the it. But our response, your response is what determines whether or not we will be better for it, regardless of what the it is. And it all boils down to this terrifying, liberating, destiny altering question, how would someone in my circumstances respond? How would someone in my circumstances respond? How would someone in my circumstances respond? We know how someone in my circumstances would react, we see that all the time, but how would someone in my circumstances respond if they were absolutely confident? God was with them. Your answer, your answer to that question is your invitation to exercise your superpower. Your answer to this question is your best way forward. And if you act on it, you will emerge from whatever you're facing, better for it. Let's face it, we are no better than our responses, but our responses have extraordinary potential to make us and to make the world better. So one more time. How would someone, how would someone in your circumstances respond if they were confident? God was with them. If they were absolutely confident that it was more to their circumstances, more to your circumstances than meets the eye, that your current circumstances are not the story. They're simply a chapter in the story and that God has chosen to be part of your story and that God is going to connect the dots of your responses, to do something great for you and something great through you. You have a superpower, your respond ability, use it. If you do, you will be better for it, the people around you will be better for it. And who knows? Perhaps, the world would be better for it as well. How would someone in your circumstances respond if they were confident? God was with them. Preached at North Point Church www.sermons.love How would someone in your trials respond if they were confident? God was with them. If they were absolutely confident that it was more to their circumstances than meets the eye, they would be able to pass through life’s challenges as Joseph did. Joseph spent years in suffering but never lost his integrity. He never stopped trusting God. Like Joseph, our troubles are simply a chapter in the story that God can develop your trust and confidence in Him. Wait. Be patient. You will see the whole picture someday. Preached at North Point Church www.sermons.love .

f you grew up in a conservative evangelical church like I did, it is possible there is a story from the Bible that was repeatedly used to teach you about sex – the story of David and Bathsheba in 2nd Samuel chapters 11 and 12. While our teachers’ intentions were good, the way the story was taught has planted seeds in our minds that have grown into weeds we must now deal with if we are to side with Jesus in the time of #MeToo and #TimesUp. In this short essay, I hope to give you a different understanding of David and Bathsheba, one that doesn’t just focus on sex, but also on power. The Way I Learned the Story David has outlasted his predecessor and been crowned king. He has defeated his enemies, he has returned the ark to Jerusalem, and he has constructed his place. He is at the peak of his power and his place in the history books as Israel’s greatest king was secure. Then, on a Spring night, David took a stroll on the roof of his palace. While walking, he saw a beautiful woman bathing on a neighboring rooftop. He asked his servants to find out who the woman was. They told him it was Bathsheba, the wife of one of David’s soldiers. David sent a servant to get her, he had sex with her, and then he sent her home. A little while later, Bathsheba sent the king a note that read, “I am pregnant.” David’s first thought was to cover up that the baby was his. He brought Bathsheba’s husband home from war thinking the man would have sex with his wife while he was on leave, but out of loyalty to his troops who were still on the battlefield, Bathsheba’s husband wouldn’t sleep with her. When David’s original plan failed, the king told his generals to arrange it so Bathsheba’s husband would die on the battlefield. After the husband was killed, David gave Bathsheba time to mourn before he married her. This might have been the end of the story, one more political scandal cleaned before it damaged the throne if it had not been for God. In the story, God sent Nathan the prophet to speak to David. Nathan told David a story about two men, a rich man, and a poor man. The rich man had lots of sheep. The poor man had one sheep for which he cared a great deal. One night the rich man needed to feed a traveler. Not wanting to waste his own sheep, the rich man took the poor man’s sheep. At the end of Nathan’s story, David was angry at the rich man and wanted justice for the poor man. With dramatic flair, Nathan explained to David that David was the rich man and Bathsheba’s husband was the poor man. Nathan then told David that his power would begin to fade because of the terrible thing he has done. What I Learned in Church about Sex Growing up in an Evangelical Southern Baptist church, I heard this story at least once a year. My Sunday school teachers and youth leaders pulled it out whenever it was time to talk about sex. It was used as a warning for boys on the dangers of sexual temptation. The central message was, “Have sex before marriage and bad things will happen, like a girl getting pregnant.” I was told that David’s first mistake was being on the roof at midnight. If David had been in bed like he was supposed to be, this would have never happened. David’s second mistake was looking for too long. My teachers explained that, Yes, there are beautiful women in the world, but don’t look at them. If you do, sexual temptation might overtake you.” Through this analysis of the story, my teachers gave the power to Bathsheba’s beauty. If lingered on, it would be more than any man could bear. Above all else, it was important for young men to know that they should never investigate sexual temptation. That was David’s third mistake. He was tempted by Bathsheba’s powerful beauty and he then he dwelled on it. He did the Old Testament equivalent of Googling her. My teachers were clear, “Don’t Google sexual temptation.” According to this line of teaching, David’s great failure was having sex with Bathsheba. All the other bad things that happened (trying to trick the husband, then killing him, then being lectured by Nathan) were born from the act of sex. If David just hadn’t of given in to his desires, everything would have been alright. It was implied (and sometimes openly stated) that if a man lingers in lustful thoughts, those thoughts will when and the man will fall into sin. The only way to escape such temptation was to run from it. These teachings stuck with me for a long time. When I was in college, I remember walking through the mall with friends who had come from similar upbringings. As we walked by the Victoria Secret store, we’d talk loudly about how much we liked our shoes. The absurd exercise was a way to acknowledge to everyone around us that we were not going to be like David. We weren’t going to look at Bathsheba. We were going to look at our shoes because the beautiful women advertised in the windows of the store would not tempt us. We were aware that just one lingering glance at a poster could take us down a road that would end in an unwanted baby. When I started in the ministry as a young adult, I was warned about meeting one-on-one with young women. If a meeting with a woman was necessary, it should not be done in public because people might think the meeting was romantic in nature and that would be bad. It should also not be done in private because then I wouldn’t have accountability for my behavior. I also should not ride to meetings in the same car with a woman, because that could lead to sexual temptation. Honestly, the only way meeting one-on-one with a woman would work is if I did it in my office, with the door open, and another guy was sitting outside just in case. Therefore, in the end, it was best just not to have one-on-one meetings with women unless another guy was around. Consequences of that Teaching Now in my forties with young boys of my own, I realize this line of teaching, although well intentioned, planted some bad seeds in my mind. § It taught me that David, and all men, were the victims in the story. David was being challenged by powerful temptation, the beauty of a woman, and he understandably failed to resist it. The teaching never went so far as to excuse him from responsibility, but it implied that giving in was the foregone conclusion if he remained exposed to the power of a beautiful woman. § It also taught me that Bathsheba and beautiful women like her were tools of temptation. Therefore, they were on the side of temptation. While they weren’t the problem, they weren’t helping. Their beauty was powerful and should be avoided unless appropriate romantic involvement was intended. § Finally, it taught me that the perspective that matters was David’s. This story was about him, and it was a tragedy. Poor David had fallen into temptation and lost things because of it. Just think of what an amazing king he might have continued to be if this hadn’t happened to him. As women have begun to speak out about how they were assaulted, I feel the presence of these teachings in our cultural conversation. When an allegation arises, we whisper about the women because we can’t help but ask Bathsheba, “Should you really have been bathing on the roof? Don’t you know how dangerous your beauty is for men?” We want to know the man’s side of the story, wondering where his moment of failure came; and after the second or third story is shared, we start asking if this whole thing has gone too far. We question allegations, asking for investigations into them, and then questioning the validity of the investigations when they do happen. We even mourn the loss of the assaulters when they are held accountable, saying things like, “Isn’t it sad that David never reached his full potential as the king because this happened to him.” The Misuse of Power Teachings like this version of David and Bathsheba have not served us well. I would, therefore, like to take a different look at the story. One that doesn’t place sex at the center, but focuses on the real issue – the issue we tend to ignore in conversations about sexual assault – power. Let’s start with Bathsheba since she is the true victim of the story. Notice that she is never the one taking action. § David looks at her. § David summons her. § David “lays” with her. § David tries to trick her husband. § David murders her husband. § David then marries her. In contrast to David, she has no power in the narrative. At every turn, she is acted upon. This is not something she chose. This was forced upon her. Also notice that, excluding a three-word note she writes, Bathsheba is silent in the story. In not giving her a voice, the storyteller is communicating to us that she could not speak. It is a stretch to say that she likely felt denying the king was impossible. He clearly had the power to kill her husband and end her life. She had no choice. Which is why this is not a story about an extra-marital affair. It is a story about sexual assault. David had all the power. Bathsheba had no power. David abused his power to take what he wanted from Bathsheba. Yet it is her life that is over. Because David stole her, she loses her home and her husband, and she is forced into a harem she didn’t ask to be a part of. Bathsheba’s life as she knows it ends because David took her. To hammer this point home, let’s consider Nathan. The prophet speaks for God in the story. God and Nathan do not seem to think the problem is sex. They don’t lecture David about being in the wrong place or letting his eye linger on Bathsheba for too long. When Nathan arrives on the scene to speak to David, he tells a story about power. There was a rich man and a poor man. The rich man took the poor man’s things and this was the great injustice. Notice also that Nathan does not lecture Bathsheba. He does not hold her accountable for tempting David. He does not criticize her for bathing on the roof. He does not tell her she should have covered up or been more careful. He does not have a story for her about sheep and power. In this story, Nathan sees Bathsheba as the innocent victim that she is. She is the poor man who did nothing wrong. In Sunday School, we never got to the end of the story, and the end of the story is important. Before leaving David, Nathan explains that because of David’s sin – his abuse of power over Bathsheba – the baby Bathsheba has given birth to will die. And then the child gets sick. And David refuses to eat, lying on the ground in mourning all day and night. And after seven days, the child dies. The conclusion of the story is that David is made to feel as powerless as Bathsheba was. Through his abuse of power, he is given a son, an heir, a symbol that his family name will go on; but then he is left to lay on the floor helpless and mourning as he watches that future die, just as Bathsheba had to watch as David destroyed her life. It is clear to me now, as a grown man with sons, that while this story has sex in it, it is not about sex. It is about power. David had all of it, he used it to sexually assault Bathsheba, and the future she was building was destroyed because of it. Where Should Christians Stand? The biggest lesson for me (and the lesson I’m trying to teach my boys is) from the story of David and Bathsheba is about how Christ followers should respond when the story is repeated. When the course of a person’s life is changed because someone with power abuses it to take what they want, where should the people of God be? Nathan has two roles in this story. First, he fearlessly holds power accountable. David is king. He has armies of warriors at his disposal. He has proven himself to be a mighty warrior in battle. He has all the money, all the fame, all the resources of the kingdom. Nathan only has his reputation and his integrity. He is the man who speaks for God. Yet Nathan does not hesitate to look David in the eye and say, “You were wrong. You were wrong and you are going to pay for it.” If we are going to call ourselves followers of God, we must not hesitate to speak truth to those in power. When they abuse their power (and they will because they always do), we must stand and say, “No. This behavior is unacceptable and it will be made right.” Second, Nathan stands with the powerless. After this story, Nathan disappears from the narrative. He doesn’t come back until David is an old man, on his deathbed. And when Nathan appears again, in the first chapter of 1st Kings, we see him standing next to Bathsheba. He encourages her to go to David and advocate for her second son, the son who was born after her life had been reset, Solomon. It is Nathan that orchestrates Bathsheba’s son Solomon becoming king. In the same way, when we see injustice happen, if we want to follow God we must also fight for the empowerment of the victims. I tell my sons at every opportunity, “If you want to know where God is, find the people with the least amount of power, and go fight for them. You’ll find God there.” The lesson the story of David and Bathsheba should teach us is not about sex. It’s about power. And if the church of America wants to call itself the people of God, if it wants to play the role of Nathan in the story, then it must fearlessly speak truth to power and stand alongside the victims, because that is where we will find God.

When athletic teams play at home, they know that there are extra odds in their favor. The extra boost of fan participation, applause, encouragement and recognition in their home stadium gives them the home-field advantage. In the past, Judeo-Christian ethics penetrated most facets of American culture, which gave Christians a home-field advantage when encountering the world. That semblance of advantage has dramatically waned as the culture has sought to infiltrate Christian values. For many, culture has become an idol.   The consequence of making an idol of the culture is that Christians today have been desensitized to (and even adopted) the images and definitions of the culture. In doing so, we look to man for truth rather than God – the ultimate source of truth.   This is called humanism. Dr. Evans mentioned that the permeation of humanism and secularism in the culture has resulted in creating a part-time saint mentality among our brothers and sisters in Christ. However, God wants us to choose our actions according to His will and affect the culture for Him rather than the reverse.   Daniel and his friends (who had been recruited for the court of the Babylonian king), refused to let the culture dictate who they should worship. They were resolute in choosing to worship only God. From the onset, King Nebuchadnezzar attempted to engulf the young men into Babylonian culture by changing their names, teaching them the language and customs and encouraging them to overindulge in food and wine. We see God honoring the young men’s faithfulness: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were left unscathed from Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace after they refused to bow down to the king as if he were God; and when King Darius’ officials found Daniel guilty of making a petition to anyone but the king, Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den. But God favored Daniel who emerged from the den unharmed. Because of their faithfulness to God and not the culture, all four men survived and continued to serve the Lord for the rest of their lives. GETTING STARTED Appreciating and valuing cultural contributions to society is different from worshipping them as an idol. The culture becomes an idol when we treat something other than God as if it were God. Review  Daniel 1:1-8 . Identify examples in Scripture of cultural idols.   LET’S GET PERSONAL Have you ever had to choose between your faith and the secular world around you? What did that decision cost you? Daniel was fortunate to have friends who stood with him in his decision to honor the One, true God. Think about the people you spend the most time with. Will they stand with you when you are forced to choose between the culture and God? Do you have the kind of relationship where any of you could speak the truth in love if a cultural idol emerges? During celebrations that acknowledge your worldly achievements and accomplishments, how have you remained humble? TAKE THE NEXT STEP Celebrity worship is one manifestation of the idol of culture. It can occur in the entertainment industry, the political arena and even in our churches. Think of the individuals who fit in these categories who you have supported in the past. Have you ever supported someone because of the material things they possess, the monetary riches they are known for, or simply because they are popular with a certain group you admire? Read  Exodus 34:15 . Say a prayer of repentance to God and ask for forgiveness from the ways you have idolized culture. RENEW YOUR MIND “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8

Our God is a God of pleasure. He wants us to have fun and participate in entertaining activities that lighten our moods, help us laugh, and encourage us to spend time with our family and friends. Because of our relationship with Christ, which positions us under the authority of God, our entertainment should meet God’s standards. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon explains his thoughts on pleasure. To his demise, Solomon made pleasure an idol from which he refused to deny himself. Pleasure becomes an idol when we seek to enjoy something in God’s creation without the participation of the Creator. From his numerous marriages and concubines to following other gods and eventually establishing worship sites for those gods, Solomon did what the Lord considered evil. One of the biggest condemnations in scripture is that in the last days, men will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ( 2 Tim 3:4 ). Remember, God is not saying that we can’t have fun, but our fun needs to submit to His will. As Christians, we sometimes make allowances related to entertainment and pleasure that don’t align with God’s Word. We often justify and make excuses for what we want to indulge in rather than change our thinking. As he did in the Garden of Eden, Satan attempts to infiltrate our minds, make us indifferent to God’s Word, and separate us further from our heavenly Father. As we see with Adam and Eve, the enemy will always tell us about the fun but withhold information about the consequences of our behavior.   GETTING STARTED Review your weekly calendar. How much time each week do you spend participating in activities for entertainment? How much time do you spend studying the word of God? If you are committed to putting God first in your life, what changes can make in your daily schedule to spend more time with Him? LET’S GET PERSONAL In his sermon, Pastor Evans mentioned that something that may be sinful for one person is not sinful for another. Think of an idol in your life that brings you pleasure. Can you see how it is an idol for you but not for someone else? Why do you think this is the case? Share the idol you mentioned in the question above with an accountability partner. Describe to them when and how this one pleasurable act became an idol in your life. TAKE THE NEXT STEP Meditate this week on the following verses:  Philippians 3:19  and  Psalm 16 . RENEW YOUR MIND “Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.” Ecclesiastes 2:9

Technology is designed to be a tool that serves and informs us, not a master that dictates how we live. Through science, entertainment, and communication, technology makes our lives easier and more enjoyable. Because God gave us the ability to develop and advance technology, we should thank Him for this convenience. Unfortunately, many Christians do not use technology the way God intended. Technology becomes an idol when we start to worship our devices instead of worshiping our God.   Genesis 11  is an example of technology gone rogue. Once the people on earth misused the tools they were given to build a city, God confused their speech and it was impossible for them to communicate effectively. As we continue reading this passage, we see that God refused to make the speech understandable because the people were rebelling against Him. Once something becomes an idol, it becomes God’s enemy.   God wants us to use technology; however, He wants to remain first in our lives. For some of us, our whole lives are attached to technology through text messages, email, calendars, and more. The more connected we are to these things, the greater the tendency for us to move further away from God.  STARTED Imagine how it would feel not to have cell phones. Have you ever misplaced or broken your cell phone, tablet, computer, or video gaming device? What was your initial reaction?   LET’S GET PERSONAL On any given day, social media encourages us to keep track of followers and friends. Problems arise when we are trying to gain and influence more followers for ourselves than for Christ. Scroll your timeline and take note of the many ways people try to create more attention for themselves. Now take a look at your own posts. Do they reflect an attempt to highlight yourself or God? TAKE THE NEXT STEP Take an honest evaluation of the amount of time you spend using technology each day. Compare that to the amount of time you spend studying the Bible and in quiet time with the Lord. Which do you do more? Make a list of at least three ways that you and your family can decrease your amount of screen time and increase the time you spend in the Word. Share that list with small group members, friends, or colleagues and ask them to help keep you accountable. RENEW YOUR MIND “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” Genesis 11:7

The Christian faith is about a relationship, not religion. As Christians, we sometimes confuse the two and allow religion to damage and poison our relationship with God. We participate in some church-related traditions out of duty. However, that participation means nothing if we are not growing deeper in our relationship with God. When we do ‘church things’ because we want folks to know we are Christian, want God to bless us or change His mind on something, we have created the idol of religion. One such ‘church thing’ is speaking Christianese. Reciting familiar sayings such as “God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good” is a catchy way to showcase our Christianity to others and speaks nothing to a relationship with God. Here are some of the ‘isms’ that exist in the church. He defined an  ism  as beliefs that are demonically inspired, yet camouflaged as church norms. Christians often allow these  isms  to govern our Christianity. Some  isms  include: Traditionalism  – things that we do only because we are used to doing them. Often, these things sound right because they have been passed on through generations, but they not biblically-based. Ritualism –  an external activity that make us believe we will receive benefits by merely participating in an act. A common example of this is saying grace before meals. Legalism  – pursuing God’s rules at the expense of a relationship with Him. The Ten Commandments can be an example of this. While the commandments can give us limits on our behavior, they do not provide us the power and instruction on how to live within those limits. This comes solely from our relationship with God. When adding these invisible things to our faith, they can also sneak into our hearts, our families, and our communities.  Paul warns the people of Corinth that this behavior encourages demons to sit at God’s table, even in the church. If we have an authentic relationship with God, we do not sit at both His table and the tables of demons. Remember, our relationship with Him will bring about a change in us; our relationship with religion will destroy us.   GETTING STARTED Reflect on the past week and remember the spiritual fervor you had on Sunday. Did you feel the same way about God as the week progressed? What did your actions and conversations with others reflect? LET’S GET PERSONAL Sometimes Christians will base their decision to attend church on the person who is preaching that week. This can be because some folks want a temporary high from a weekly worship service that they feel only certain ministers can provide. As faithful Christians, our church attendance should be based on the Passion we have for Christ, not a mortal person. Has this ever been true for you? What can you do to check your motives when it comes to attending church regularly? TAKE THE NEXT STEP Read  James 4:1-10  this week. List five ways you can draw closer to God. Share your list with a friend or prayer partner. What changes have you incorporated into your life as a result of your list? RENEW YOUR MIND   You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 1 Corinthians 10:21

Warning lights in cars and other mechanical devices alert us that something needs our attention. Without this indicator light, issues that need attending to may not be noticed. Similarly, God uses money as an indicator light to our souls, alerting us to deeper issues that need to be examined. To be clear, money itself is not wrong. However, when our motivation to obtain it is not Godly, it leads to the idol of greed (1  Col 3:5 ). Greed is the illegitimate and unauthorized desire, pursuit, or acquisition of material gain.  Romans 1:29-30  outlines just how catastrophic the idol of greed is when it lists it among other wicked behaviors, including murder.   Greed has affected our culture in many ways, influencing how we operate in the four relational spheres of God’s rule (i.e., individual, family, church, society). Slavery is the result of societal greed; the United States was built on the systematic forcing of people into perpetual labor based on their skin color to support the economic development of this country. Churches are greedy when they become more concerned about receiving the blessings of God rather than growing in relationship with Him or when they attempt to spiritualize putting gold before God and money before the Master. This is greed. Families and individuals who are in illegitimate debt, marked by payday loans and the excessive use of credit cards, are guilty of greed.   For those who think they are not driven by greed, Pastor Evans gave a list of indicators to greed. We are greedy when:   We use illegal or immoral means to acquire things We complain more than we give thanks We are more concerned about our cash than our character Our financial life is increasing but our spiritual life is decreasing We treat those with money better than those without it We crave and plot to possess what legitimately belongs to another (covetousness) We hurt others in order to get something for ourselves. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians serves as a reminder to keep our focus on spiritual rather than material things. Ultimately, greed is really a heart issue and to overcome it, we must shift our hearts from receiving more to giving more. Because we cannot serve God and money, our focus should be on generosity with what we have and doing good works for others. GETTING STARTED Before this sermon, how did you define greed? How does this definition differ from the one Pastor gave? What surprises you about his definition? LET’S GET PERSONAL Do you find yourself guilty of any of the seven expressions of greed listed above? If you answered yes, do you feel the necessity to change your thinking and/or about how you obtain material gain? Explain. Keeping up with the Joneses is common in our society. Have you ever purchased or wanted to purchase something you couldn’t afford just to impress other people? What did it cost you spiritually? Was the material gain worth the spiritual cost? Read and reflect on  1 Timothy 6:6-19 . What is Paul’s equation for gain? How does this compare with the greedy person’s way of obtaining gain? TAKE THE NEXT STEP Community service is a way to ensure that our focus is spiritual rather than earthly. Make a list of the ways you currently serve. What specific things can you and your family do in the next 30 days to increase your service to others? RENEW YOUR MIND “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:2

One of the most heinous crimes that can be committed is identity theft. According to The Harris Poll, 60 million people in the US were affected by it in 2018, including children. As Christians, we must not only be concerned with this kind of identity theft, but also with spiritual identity theft. Satan is a rogue who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour ( 1 Pet 5:8 ). If we allow him to use idols to distract us, he will rob us of our identity in Christ.   The idol of identity occurs when we take images of contemporary culture and use them to define who we are. A person’s race, ethnicity, gender, education, politics, economic status or social group can lead us to define ourselves by cultural ideologies.   However, the Bible is clear that making these cultural identities the norm for us is not right. In his letter to the people of Galatia, Paul reminds us that we are, first and foremost, of Christ and that identity is what should define us . We also have the tendency to identify ourselves by our sins and past mistakes. This tactic is another one of Satan’s many tools to make us have a distorted view of ourselves and reclassify ourselves according to his evil standards. If we identify with anything other than Christ first, and then expect Jesus to adjust to our preferences, we will develop spiritual schizophrenia.   It is key for all Christians to position themselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and allow a biblical worldview to govern who we are. Throughout our lives, we can and will relate to cultural things and events, but our first commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart and place no other gods before Him.  STARTED If you had to describe yourself to someone without stating your name or what you do for a living, what would you say? As a culture, we will sometimes identify ourselves by our feelings, instead of Biblical standards. Think of a time you have done this, how would you respond differently in a situation where the Bible governed your response, not how you felt? LET’S GET PERSONAL Additionally, we sometimes identify ourselves by our sin(s). Doing so can reinforce that sin in our life instead of eliminating it. Make a list of the sins or negative labels you have allowed to define you. Next to the list you created above, create new “I am” statements that reflect who you are in Jesus Christ. TAKE THE NEXT STEP Meditate this week on the following verses:  1 Peter 5:8  and  2 Corinthians 4:10 RENEW YOUR MIND “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20

Satan has a trap. He wants us to think the word “idol” doesn’t apply to us. However, because sin affects everyone, so does idolatry. As Pastor Evans mentioned, “idolatry is the most disgusting sin because all other sins come from it.” Idolatry is defined as any person, place, thing, or thought that we look to as our source. It is anything in God’s kingdom that competes with God himself.   Chapter 14 of Ezekiel explicitly states God’s stance on idolatry: Therefore speak to them and tell them, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols, in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols.’”   Even though Christians may recognize that idols are sinful, all humans have a propensity toward idolatry. The reason why we look to idols is that they make us feel like we are in control of our lives. Despite that feeling, it is actually the idol that has control over us. Idols are so deceptive that they will simultaneously block the flow of God’s grace and attract demons to situations in our lives.   We can begin to address our own issues with idolatry when we remember a few key points:   God is transcendent: He is outside of time and space and distinct from all of creation. When we operate outside of His timing, we are competing with Him. When God says, “I am that I am,” He means that He is not subject to our definition of who He is. Furthermore, He does not accept our excuses for participation in idol worship. Additionally, “I am that I am” means God is self-sufficient. He does not need our help to do anything. Once we acknowledge that idolatry is intimacy with a false image, we can open our hearts to intimacy with the true, living God.   GETTING STARTED Scripture makes it clear that God wants absolute exclusivity as the ruler in our lives. Make a list of the specific area(s) that you have not given Him total reign over you. When we want to pick and choose the areas of life that we want God to enter, we are using a cafeteria approach to our relationship with Him. Say a prayer reverencing God’s authority in your life, and give Him total and complete dominion over the things that you listed above. LET’S GET PERSONAL Another factor in understanding idolatry is that who or what we worship, we become. When we worship God, we reflect His image and likeness. When we worship other things or people, we are not honoring God, advancing His kingdom, or giving Him glory. We can’t expect answers to our prayers if we are not positioned under His authority properly. Make a list of three things you can do to eliminate the current idols in your life. Ask a friend or family member to pray with you daily and hold you accountable for dealing with your specific idols. TAKE THE NEXT STEP Meditate this week on the following verses:  Psalm 135:18  and  James 4:3 .