Wash Your Hands

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

In a previous blog, we started a short journey through James 4:8-9. The command there is for us “draw near to God.” This refers to our Pursuit of an intimate relationship with God.

This is a challenge for many. Most folks have no problems believing in God. The challenge is for us to think in terms of an intimate relationship. For me, it was a challenge to believe the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of the world, an omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God wanted a relationship with me. But He does. He wants to be part of every aspect of my life. This is confirmed to me in Matthew 6 where the rhetorical questions of how God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the land are posed. Then the truth is dropped on us, that God cares for us even more than these things.

Then we get to the book of James, and Jesus’ younger brother informs us that He wants to be close to us. I love this because it was pre-determined before the creation of the world that God wanted to be intimately involved in our lives. We simply need to respond to Him by drawing near to Him.

We are given three things to do for this to happen. These three things are: wash our hands; cleanse our heart; and stop being double minded.

Wash my hands. This command was based on the practice of the Old Testament priests who traversed through the Tabernacle into the presence of God. They would stop at the laver, a large bowl of water between the Altar of burnt sacrifice, where our sin was dealt with and the Holy Place.

In Psalm 24:3-4 the question is posed, “Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord?” (Hill of the Lord refers to the presence of God or His dwelling place.)

The answer is, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

The symbolism of this challenges us to be careful what we do with our hands. Our hands can get us into trouble. And sometimes our hands can accumulate dirt and other things capable of defiling us. Therefore we “wash or cleanse our hands.”

Cleanse our heart. The heart is the source of our thoughts. And our thoughts are the source of all that we say and do.

Solomon warned his son to “above all else, guard your heart. For out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Jesus spoke about things of the heart in the Sermon on the Mount. He said it wasn’t just enough to not murder someone or to commit the act of adultery. If we were angry with someone in  our heart, or if we entertained immoral thoughts, we were guilty as though we had committed these acts.

God knew our behavior would stem from our thought life. That’s why He challenged us to “submit to Him,” “keep our hands clean,” and “to keep our hearts cleansed.” Just as it was an everyday chore for the priests to wash their hands, it should be a daily chore for us to take a few minutes to cleanse our hands and make sure our hearts are clean before the Lord.

Double-minded. The final challenge here is to stop being double-minded. Being double minded was a condition of the hands and the heart. It’s when we try to please God while also pleasing our flesh. It won’t work. We need to be all in or we are not in at all.

It’s pretty straight forward. An intimate relationship with God, through Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit, is available to all. That’s not the question. The question is whether we will wash our hands and cleanse our heart and be completely focused on the things of God.

I’m praying for you!

Always in Pursuit!

Don

A CLARION CALL

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Many years ago, I became fascinated with this word “clarion.” It means a clear and shrill sound. The word “shrill” means high pitched and piercing.

In my mind, clarion referred to something that was trying to get my attention. The distinct shrill and piercing sound would cause me to take notice and either be warned or challenged to take action.

James, the younger brother of Jesus, gives a clarion call to all followers of Jesus. James 1:1 informs us that James was writing to the twelve tribes of Israel, who had been scattered around the world. Today, this includes all who claim Christ as our Lord and Savior, Jew, or Gentile.

James 4:8 “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (NIV)

For me, that’s the word for 2021. I need to discover ways to be drawn closer to God than in the past year. 2020 was a tough year. It drained me, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The pandemic wasn’t enough. Here in eastern Iowa, we had to throw in a once in a life-time derecho. This was a storm of 140 mile per hour winds, sustained for at least forty to forty-five minutes, followed by heavy rain. Some have described it as an on-land hurricane. It was not fun.

In other parts of the world, there were forest fires (some still burning), there were hurricanes, earthquakes and a whole array of employment and financial challenges. Plus, we lost many friends and loved ones to all the diseases that were present prior to the pandemic.

Between the pandemic and the derecho, I’ve discovered a whole new meaning to our need for God and our continual dependence upon Him for everything in our life.

I believe the solution for this is found in the clarion call of James 4:8. The Holy Spirit, who was guiding James in his writing, was kind to us and gave us ways for us to draw closer to God.

Wash your hands—

Purify your hearts—

Grieve, mourn & wail—

Humble yourselves—

Over the next few days, I will be blogging about these four things and exploring from the Scriptures what they mean for us. They are obviously important disciplines for us to develop since they will draw us closer to God. Doing these things won’t stop the pandemic, nor will it stop the derechos of our lives, but they will keep us closer to the one who has promised to always provide a way through the desert and wilderness.

Looking forward to sharing these things with you.

Always in Pursuit!

Don

KEEP WATCH

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Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, January 3, 2021

Text: Matthew 24:36-44

Observations for the coming year:

  • Seven day a week church (via internet)
  • On-line Bible studies
  • On-line interest & support groups
  • Attacks on religious liberties

1 John 4:2-3

  • Persecution

Matthew 5:10-12

Matthew 10:22

Matthew 24:12-14

  • The challenge to be salt & light

Matthew 5:13-16

1 Peter 3:15-16

  • The restrainer

2 Thessalonians 2:7-8

  • A personal challenge to keep watch

Psalm 119:9-10

James 4:7-10

Submit; Draw near; Lament, mourn & weep; Humble yourself

  • First Things First—
  • Romans 3:23–3 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
  • Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the [h]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
  • 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Utterly Amazed

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Yesterday at church, I addressed the fact that 2020 has been a hard year. It’s been especially hard for those in eastern Iowa who dealt with a “once in a life-time” (we hope) derecho.

It was tough enough with COVID, yet many parts of our country dealt with wildfires, some dealt with hurricanes, while some dealt with oppressive heat.

COVID has kept us from gathering with our friends and loved ones. These times were times of encouragement, and great comfort for many. Now we had to search out new ways to maintain relationships.

Because of COVID mitigations, the economy took a real hit just when things seemed to be making a full recovery plus.

Because of COVID many spent weeks in quarantine. Some spent days, and weeks on ventilators. We all lost friends and loved ones along the way, many from COVID but some from other disease. COVID didn’t make cancer go away or heart disease or automobile wrecks. It’s been a tough year. (I forgot to mention the hailstorm back in April. It destroyed our roof, along with hundreds of other roofs in our community. Now we had to deal with our insurance company, great people, and a contractor.)

In our time together at Troy Mills Christian Church yesterday, we took a quick look at some folks in the Bible who had bad years. Noah, Esther, Job, Nebuchadnezzar and even Mary the mother of Jesus.

The remarkable thing about their bad years is that they all ended well. Losses that had been suffered were returned, some even doubled. They things exemplified the classic proverb of Solomon, found in Ecclesiastes 7:8, “The end of a thing is better than it’s beginning.”

There’s another passage we didn’t get to examine, due to time. Habakkuk 1:5 is an interesting verse. The prophet was whining to God about the evil he was surrounded by. It was much like our time. He asked God if He had noticed the evil. God acknowledged it and promised that He was in the process of working to bring about good. But before the good came, there were going to be some unusual things happen.

The promise from God was that He was going to work in a way that would “utterly astound Habakkuk.” But He challenged the prophet to pay attention. Note God told the prophet to, “look and watch.” I think too often we get so discouraged and caught up in the difficult times we forget to look for the ways God is at work. Perhaps the “watch” part of that command was meant for us to watch how we allowed the circumstances affect us.

God is always at work. He never leaves us. He won’t forsake us. He is always with us; always watching; always listening.

Now it’s our job to look for Him; watch how we live and be prepared to be utterly amazed.

Always in Pursuit!

Don

A Bad Year

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Sunday, December 27, 2020

Troy Mills Christian Church

Texts: Ecclesiastes 7:8; Romans 8:28; Habakkuk 1:5

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 29:11-13

I. The year 2020

A. Good riddance

B. Welcome to goofy

II. Biblical Bad Years

A. Noah

B. Job

C. Esther

D. Nebuchadnezzar

E. Mary

III. The end of a thing–Ecclesiastes 7:8; God @work–Romans 8:28

IV. How the biblical bad years ended

A. Noah–Genesis 9:1-3

B. Esther–Esther 8:16-17

C. Job–Job 42:10, 12-13

D. Nebuchadnezzar–Daniel 4:36

E. Mary–Luke 2:6-20

V. How is God going to end our year?

A. Our promise–Habakkuk 1:5

B. Look, watch, be utterly astounded

Habakkuk 1:5 “Look among the nations and watch–Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.?

Love

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Troy Mills Christian Church

December 20, 2020

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Advent Readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I. Paul describes the “Agape’ Love” as it was exhibited by Jesus. Agape’ love is the most radical love. It is a gift that is given from one person to another.

II. You will find the word “love” about 300 times in the Scriptures. It is a major theme in the Word, which only makes sense since the one who breathed the Word into the hearts of the 40 writers of Scriptures was love Himself.

A. 1 John 1:7-11

III. It was love that caused God to send Jesus to the earth

A. John 3:16-17

IV. It was love that caused Joseph not to divorce Mary

A. Luke 2:51-52

B. A love for God and a love for Mary

V. Love was the core of Jesus’ teaching

A. Matthew 22:36-40

VI. Love was and is to be the “trademark” of all Christ-followers

A. John 13:24-25

VII. Love brings hope, brings peace, and brings joy into our lives. Love makes all things new

A. 2 Corinthians 5:17

JOY

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Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Third Sunday of Advent

Text: Luke 2:8-20

I. JOY—

A. Not an emotion

C. Grace—unmerited work of God on our behalf

B. State of being

  1. Salvation

2. Hope

3. Peace

4. Joy

II. God fills us with JOY

A. Romans 15:13

B. “by the power of the Holy Spirit”

C. 1 Thessalonians 1:6

III. JOY is part of the fruit of the Spirit

A. Galatians 5:22

B. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives

C. No limit

IV. No one can take JOY from us

A. John 16:22

B. Gary S. Paxton

V. So, why does JOY matter?

A. 2 Corinthians 1:20

B. Isaiah 35:10

C. Nehemiah 8:10

PEACE

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Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Second Sunday of Advent

Text: Luke 2:8-14

Advent Readings: Isaiah 64:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126

Sin has a way of swindling us out of peace. Peace opens the door for harmony, wholeness, completeness, health and soundness.” Peace was also intended to be permanent rather than temporary. The permanence of peace was due to the permanence of God.

Text: Luke 2:8-14

I—Shalom

          Definition—

          Isaiah 9:6—The Prince of Peace

          John 10:10

II—Benefits of peace

  1. Philippians 4:7—guards our minds and our hearts
  • Proverbs 29:11—gives us strength
  • Isaiah 54:10—helps through tough times

III—Three kinds of peace

  1. Pease with God

Romans 5:1

  • Peace with others

Ephesians 2:14-16

  • Inner Peace

John 14:27

HOPE

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Text: Genesis 6:5-8; Luke 2:11

Advent Readings: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7

The “Christmas Story” as found in the New Testament is very much like starting a movie in the middle or entering a conversation long after it had started. You miss out on so much. The need for HOPE and the message of HOPE begins in the Old Testament book of Genesis.

Text: Genesis 6:5-7

Verse 6: The Lord regretted—

Question: What caused the Lord to grieve?

Question: Does our sin still cause the Lord to grieve?

“Obedience to God is to come from our love for God and not from following rules”

Mark 12:30—”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself.”

The problem: 2 Timothy 3:2 “people will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money.”

          Question: What happens when I love something more than I love God?

Genesis 6:8—Noah found favor

Favor—God’s grace. God giving us the ability to do things that we otherwise would not be able to do.

Example: to save ourselves from sin. It’s impossible for man to save himself

Luke 2:8-13—But there is HOPE

Luke 2:14—The favor of God is to bring salvation and HOPE for eternal life.

Advent Fact: Advent started as a season of fasting about 400 years after the birth of Christ. It was a call to look back and celebrate the HOPE of Jesus’ birth and it was also a call to look forward in anticipation of Jesus’ Second Coming

Living in the Last Days

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sermon Notes

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-18

Bible Reading for today: Psalm 9:1-2, 7-10

Paul wrote these two letters, 1 and 2 Thessalonians to encourage the believers to continue living their lives in the hope that was theirs as they continued to work while waiting in hope for the return of Christ.

Seven benefits to having an attitude of gratitude:

Gratitude opens the door to more relationships

Gratitude improves physical health

Gratitude improves psychological health

Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression

Gratitude helps us sleep better

Gratitude improves our self-esteem

Gratitude increase mental strength

(borrowed from Psychology Today, April 2015)

1 Thessalonians 5:1-18

Verse 16–Rejoice Always—

          Philippians 4:4—

          Matthew 5:11-12—

Verse 17-Pray Continually—

Continually refers to recurring prayer that grows out of a settled attitude of dependence upon God

Verse 18–Give Thanks for all circumstances—

          Romans 8:28

Aggravations are temporary and God will use them to grow us; to work them out for our good

True victories in life are won by Christ Followers who are joyful, prayerful, and thankful