Chapter 24 No Ordinary Life

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty when public opinion turned against him

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life

Dr James Allan Francis © 1926.

On Sunday we will dive once more into the life & ministry of Jesus... this week focusing on his role both as miracle-worker and as teacher. As I read through the readings for the week, I was once again struck by the important role Jesus plays not only in our salvation and ultimate destiny, but in our way of life right now. Jesus' teachings spoke not simply to the way things WILL be in heaven, but the way things SHOULD be right now on Earth. It is remarkable that this one, solitary life... no ordinary life... has made such an impact on the world and upon me. What did you think as you read through these stories of Jesus again this week?

Chapter 23 "Jesus Begins"

After twenty one weeks of reading through the Old Testament narratives, we finally arrived at the culmination of all that God was working His people towards… the arrival of the Messiah!  The birth of the King!  Over the next several weeks we will be digging into the gospels and exploring the life and ministry of Jesus.  These “chapters” are at the heart and core of all that we are at Washington Street as disciples of Jesus.  His life and ministry is the model and pattern for how we want to do ministry as well.  

It is our aim to “preach good news” to those who so desperately need to hear it!  To proclaim freedom for those imprisoned to sin and recovery of sight to those who’ve been blinded by the “gods of this age.”  I hope you will invite friends and family to join us as we embark on these great chapters of our “Story”.  Reading plans are still available in the auditorium or the office for those willing to read and be prepared for each lesson on Sunday.  Please join us… the best is yet to come!

--Jim

Week 22 The Birth of the King!

Silence. For 400 years God did not speak. No visions. No dreams. No prophets. No burning bush.
No splitting seas. No manna meals. Just silence.  Then, in a magnificent yet inauspicious way, a word – but not just a word, The Word. The One who had no beginning, the expression of God who is Himself God, came into the world to make Himself known.  It is to this event that everything thus far in The Story has pointed. This Jesus Christ was the source of life and light. His presence dispels the darkness of sin and provides the light of salvation to all who receive Him. Those who receive Him become the children of God. The Son’s humanity was the greatest possible demonstration of God’s grace and truth to mankind.

Lest we confuse the familiar with the ordinary, the birth of the king was quite extraordinary. God’s
promise to David would finally be realized in Jesus. To emphasize that this child would be no ordinary man, God heralded His birth celestially. The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was the chosen woman who would give birth to the son of David, the Son of God, impregnated by the Holy Spirit. But there was just one problem—Mary was an engaged virgin. Joseph kindly considered divorcing her to save them both the humiliation of this pregnancy, but another angelic explanation eased his concerns; so a righteous Joseph took her as his wife. They journeyed to Bethlehem for the required census where Mary gave birth in a humble manger, because the local inn was booked full.  The angels then had the privilege of delivering the blessed birth announcement to shepherds in a dark, cold field. They hurried to see for themselves and found a surprisingly unassuming setting for a king: a baby in a feeding trough, accompanied by his mother, earthly father, and the local livestock. Afterward, they told everyone about their out-of-this-world experience.  Another celestial sign, a star, told three Magi of the birth. They followed it until they reached Jerusalem where they inquired of His whereabouts. The Scribes cited the prophet Micah who predicted that this Ruler would come from Bethlehem. They were overjoyed to find the child and give Him their gifts.  King Herod, however, was not so pleased to hear of this threat to his power. So he ordered the massacre of all the baby boys in the area.  Again, God’s angel would see to it that His great redemptive plan would stay its course. He warned Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt until it was safe to return. When it was, the angel gave Joseph the green light to return to Galilee where he raised Jesus in the town of Nazareth.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth as the precocious son of pious Jews. They went to Jerusalem each and every year to celebrate the Passover. The year that Jesus was twelve, He stayed behind in the temple unbeknownst to his frantic parents. When they found Him three days later, He was amazing the teachers with His questions and answers. As Jesus grew up, He increased in wisdom and favor with God and with people.

God’s Upper Story and Lower Story converge in the God-man Jesus Christ. The Son of God from eternity past will remain the Son of Man for eternity future. It is toward Him that God’s redemptive story has been pointing all along.
--David Frazee

Chapter 21... "Rebuilding the Walls"

I have been really negligent about keeping up this blog and I apologize!  Over the last several weeks in our readings through The Story, we have followed the Jews overcome and defeated by foreign empires, hauled off into captivity and where they struggled to live faithfully to the call of God on their lives while in a strange and pagan land.  At the same time we have seen much happen in our own world that leads us to again think of ourselves as a people in exile.  With shootings in church buildings and theaters... with attacks against military personnel in Chattanooga... and with the threats to religious liberty coming down from our nation's top courts... there is much to be concerned about in our culture.  I am reminded that my citizenship is in heaven and I am eagerly (even more so today) awaiting a Savior from there!

This week we come to chapter 21 of The Story and it is the last leg of our journey through the Old Testament.  What a journey it has been!  On Sunday we will re-cap briefly where we have been and what God is doing to rebuild His people during this part of the story... the return of Ezra and Nehemiah to Jerusalem and the further rebuilding efforts which took place at their lead.  At the same time we will be considering God's "upper story" building project.  God is at work building or re-building His people after their time in exile.

I hope you've been keeping up in the readings... even if I've not been keeping up in blogging!  It is a thrilling story... an encouraging story... and so timely for us today!

Next week we'll celebrate "Christmas in August" with the birth of the long-awaited Messiah... in a manger of all places!

Weeks 16 & 17 The Fall of the Kingdom

2 Chron 36:15 &16

15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

A wise man once said that a good preacher would do well to approach each week's message with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.  I've always found that to be good advice.  The task of the preacher is to help folks apply God's Word to the everyday situations of life in our time.  That challenge has never been needed more than today and yet today... I struggle to find the words.

With all that has gone on  in our world this week, frankly I struggle to know where to start.  We've wept with families of those victims who were slain while they were worshiping in Charleston.  We've seen terrorist attacks in France.  In our country, politics has overtaken common sense as the discussion has shifted from mental illness to hate to gun control to an antique flag that flies over a state house in South Carolina.  We've been told that "southern pride" is no longer acceptable... but "gay pride" is to be celebrated.  Indeed, just today the Supreme Court of the United States made official what has been a steady but seismic shift in our culture over the last several decades... redefining the meaning of marriage and making of mockery of God's design & desire for his creation.  I am disappointed in my country today.

Interspersed between my daily doses of news, I've been digging again into the story of Israel.  As I read thru chapters 16 & 17, "The Beginning of the End" and "The Kingdom's Fall"... it is summed up pretty well in the text above from 2 Chronicles.  After the kingdom divided (itself a national tragedy) one bad king after another occupied the thrones of both kingdoms and led their respective nations steadily farther and farther away from the Lord.  In chapter 16 we saw that God finally allowed the pagan empire of Assyria and their idol-worshiping king, Shalmanesar, to come against and destroy Israel... wiping it off the map and out of history.  This week, ch. 17, the same thing is happening to Judah- though God must've given them some additional time only because of a few good kings who did lead the people righteously.  Josiah was one of those (there were only five.)  When Josiah became king they cleaned out the closets at the Temple and somebody found -lo & behold-  a copy of the OT Law.  Most scholars believe that what they found was the book of Deuteronomy.  It had been so long since anybody had read it... this was quite a find!  Josiah led the people to reclaim God's Word and it sparked a great revival in the land!  But his reforms and the subsequent resurgence of faithfulness was short-lived.  His son and others resumed their previous practices and again led the nation into despair.

And it wasn't like they hadn't been warned!  No, that's the worse part!  God has sent one messenger after another to warn the people.  "You continue down this path, God will not contend with you forever!"  But they refused to listen.  They mocked God's messengers.  They hated their words-- probably called them "intolerant" or "hateful" or "judgmental" or something like that.  They scoffed and ridiculed them... until God had had enough.  And in a series of raids that culminated in 586 BC, God allowed (directed?) the pagan nation of Babylon and their crazy evil king, Nebuchadnezzar, to lay siege to Judah and burn the capital of Jerusalem to the ground... including the Temple of the LORD.  As one of God's messengers, Jeremiah, watched it burn... Nebuchadnezzar hauled Judah's once privileged residents into captivity where they would spend the next seventy years as exiles in a foreign land.  No wonder Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.  You would have wept, too, if you'd seen the things he saw.

God had had enough.  And he acted.  He acted in judgment.  It doesn't sound very kind until you read "the rest of the story" and realize that God was indeed demonstrating great grace & mercy as he was preparing his people for the sending of the Messiah... and making a way for them to return not just to their homeland but to Him!  That's all that God wants... his people to return to him... in the kind of relationship unmarred by sin that he had with them in the beginning.  But first they must realize that they are lost without him and that they need him more than anything else.

I've never been one of those "hellfire & brimstone" preachers or prognosticators of "doom & gloom" but I just can't help but notice more than a few similarities between their time and ours.  It makes me wonder how long God will contend with us today until he acts in judgment.  I for one am praying, "Lord come quickly" for I know the world God has in store for us is far grander than the one we are currently experiencing.  I find solace in the fact that "this world is not my home" and that my true citizenship resides in heaven where "we anxiously await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (cf. Phil 3:20)

Week 15 God's Messengers

I am excited about the lesson this week because on Sunday my friend and former student, Jared Mills will be preaching it!  Yes, its a bit of a reprieve for me AND for the church!  You don't have to listen to me... but don't get too comfortable... "I'll be baaack!"

Jared is one of my favorite former students.  Not only was he an excellent Bible student, deserving of the top Bible award his Senior year at Riverside Christian Academy, but he continued his zeal for the Word in his studies at Freed-Hardeman where he is a Senior Bible major.  He and his fiancee, Katie, are to be married on July 4th and are quite busy planning on a wedding these days.  To know Jared is to love him!  And you will know him, too, when you see him.  He is the grandson of our Dan & Priscilla Mills and has a slew (sp?) of family at Washington Street.  He is excited about bringing us a lesson from "The Story" and will be focusing on the prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha from chapter 15.

It's a difficult time for God's people.  The nation has been splintered in two: the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  Over the course of 208 years the combined kingdoms had something like 38 different kings and only five of them were of any count.  Many of them were bad and most of them were really bad!  No doubt they probably deserved to be wiped off of the planet by God, but He had promised many years before that He wouldn't do that again.  God is patient with them, but continues to warn them that the path they are on will lead them to destruction.  He does not wait idly by, however, and sends them one prophet after another.  My favorite is Elijah who gets into something of a spitting match against the pagan gods of Assyria.  They are no match for God!

This week as you read through chapter 15, "God's Messengers" pay close attention to the warnings the prophets gave Israel... warnings that went unheeded.  What warnings does the Word give us today about the way WE are heading?

Week Fourteen: A Kingdom Torn in Two

So, I've been conflicted with this week's episode of The Story.  One one level it is the story of a king who succeeds to the throne before he is ready, makes a series of really bad decisions which affects his nation, and then sees the nation his father and grandfather had built torn apart.  One another level it is the story of God bringing about what He had foretold years before... that because of Solomon's unfaithfulness, the kingdom would be torn from him.  The story from each of these two different points of view is a tragic one.  I've struggled to find something redemptive in it... something encouraging to latch on to... something I can emphasize from the pulpit to inspire hope... or optimism... or something!  Instead, all I've found is... well, REALITY.

The story is full of reality.  Fathers don't always set the best example for their sons.  Sometimes their examples lead their children to make poor decisions themselves.  Dysfunction has a way of perpetuating itself.  People make bad decisions.  Those bad decisions impact others.  Families are torn apart.  Nations are divided.   Sin has consequences.

The reality is... when a people turn away from the Lord as Israel did, there are harsh real-world consequences, and not even necessarily because God is mad, but because when we try and fill our need for God with false gods, our lives and the lives of those around us  are torn to pieces.  That's the nature of sin.  It's what sin does.

If there's one silver lining at all in this part of the story, it is the knowledge that God is still there... He is still the primary player... and He is still working (albeit in strange ways) to bring about His will and His plan.  The nation, divided and torn asunder, will get worse before it gets better (sorry for that spoiler on next week's episode)... but eventually it will get better!  God is working towards the right time and the right circumstances to send forth His Son who will provide the means for the whole nation-- in fact for ever nation-- to be redeemed.  So, as bad as it is... and as bad as it will get... we haven't gotten to the end, yet!  That's good to remember when reading the Old Testament.  In fact, it's good to remember when reading today's newspaper!  As bad as it is.  As bad as it seems to be getting... and it seems to be getting worse... God's still not done yet!  There will be a day when Messiah will return and He'll set the world to rights!  Sin will be done away with.  Dysfunction will be rectified.  All that is bad and disappointing in the world will be redeemed and glorified in the light of His presence!

Week Thirteen: The King Who Had It All

I was tempted to call this week's lesson "The Frog King" but decided to go with the suggested title instead, "The King Who Had It All."  This week we come to the story of Solomon and in at least one book I've read he has been referred to as the "frog king."  That's because of an unusual experiment conducted years ago (without the permission of PETA I'm sure) where a frog was placed in a pot of boiling water.  Of course, the frog jumped out!  Frogs aren't stupid, after all.  Yet when the same frog was placed in a pot of comfortable, lukewarm water he sat back and relaxed nicely.  As the temperature of that water was slowly raised to the boiling point, the frog didn't budge.  He continued to sit back enjoying life while the water boiled around him... eventually to the point of boiling him to death!  Doesn't that describe the life of Solomon?

Solomon was handed life on a silver platter... literally!  (Actually Solomon's platter was probably gold since in his day silver was considered of little value.)  He had it all.  He had a great example in his father, David, who had secured the peace for Israel before handing the throne to Solomon.  He had all the wealth & riches one could imagine, and perhaps even more.  He had wisdom beyond his years and the respect of the nations around him.  Yet, his life ended in bitter disappointment and unfaithfulness.

"As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely as David his father had done."  1 Kings 11:4-6

What happened to Solomon?  He started out with such promise.  He had every resource at his disposal and a heart devoted to God.  Yet, his story ends in bitter heartache... why?  Why didn't he jump out of the pot?  Why didn't he turn back to the LORD (and out of the boiling water) when he had the chance?

This week we're going to be exploring the life of Solomon and how it parallels so many in our day and time.  We may not have all the wealth he had... but we sure are familiar enough with the temptations of the world around us... and the pots of boiling water that they can be!  

Week Twelve: The Trials of a King

I read a story this week of a young boy who lived many years ago in one of the most rural parts of West Texas- which could've been about anywhere since West Texas is pretty much all rural.  For "facilities" his family used an old outhouse and the boy absolutely hated it because it was hot in the summer, cold in the winter and stunk all the time.  It sat on the bank of a creek and the boy fantasized about pushing it over one day into the water and watching it float away.

One afternoon after a hard spring rain the little creek became so swollen that the boy decided ti was his perfect chance!  He got an old 2 x 4 from the barn and used it as a giant crowbar, prying and pushing until the old outhouse toppled backward into the creek and floated away.  The boy wondered how long it would be before the "outhouse hit the fan," so to speak, and it didn't take long!  That evening, his dad told him they were going to the woodshed!  If you know what that means then you also understand why he was so scared.  Weighing his options, the boy decided to play innocent and asked why.  His father replied, "Someone pushed that old outhouse into the creek today.  Was it you, son?"  Realizing he was in a tough spot he decided to change strategies and go with the truth.  He answered, "Yes," and after a quiet pause, "Dad, I read in school last week that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and didn't get into trouble because he told the truth."

His father replied, "Well, son, George Washington's father wasn't in that cherry tree!"

Randy Frazee tells that story and suggests that most of us can identify with it in at least three ways.  First, there is something inside of us which wants to do things our own way, regardless of the consequences... things which we know are wrong.  The Bible refers to this as the realm of "the flesh."  Second, our lack of goodness affects other people, not just us.  And many of us have been in some outhouses that were pushed over by others.  We've experienced the awful consequences of somebody else's sin.  Finally, none of us get away with keeping our little sinful acts secret.  We usually end up sinning even more -- lying and deceiving-- to cover up the truth of our bad choices.

I'm so glad we're not finished with the story of David and that this week we come to some of the desperate struggles he faced as king.  Even though David was established as a great and righteous king over all Israel, things were not always easy.  Success and especially power has a way of going to our heads and we let our guard down.  That's what David did, in a number of ways, and he got himself into a fine mess.  His sin affected not only his relationship with God, but also his entire family and the kingdom.  This week as you read through more of David's story pay careful attention to the way in which God continues to work in his story, despite David's failings, and even brings much good from it. 

Week Eleven: From Shepherd to King!

"The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want..."   

- David, king of Israel

Saul had the right look.  Saul had the right credentials.  Saul had the right experience.  Everybody thought Saul was the guy!  God blessed Saul and came upon him in power to be the first of Israel's kings.  The only problem was... Saul didn't have God.

Actually, Saul had God once upon a time.  He had been strong and faithful... but when he allowed his newly acquired power as king to go to his head, he decided he didn't have the same need for God that he once did.  He rejected the Lord and His leadership over Israel by his impetuousness and by his lack of trust... so the Lord rejected him.  God tore the kingship and the kingdom from Saul and promised to give it to another... a man after God's own heart who would be faithful and trustworthy.

That man was no man at all... at the time.  He was a young boy, the youngest of eight it seems in his family, who happened to be out tending the sheep of his father.  Nobody was aware yet that God had rejected Saul nor aware that God would choose young David to succeed him.  If they had been aware, I doubt many would have believed it.  Replace Saul.. strong, physically imposing, decisive... with David, a little boy who tended sheep and wrote poetry?

Yet that is exactly what God did.  He chose the "little boy David" and made him into Israel's greatest king... and the king by which every subsequent king would be compared against.  This week in The Story we come to our first encounter with David in what will be a two-part look at his life, his rise to power and his trials as king.  I hope you'll be reading along and joining us on Sunday in our continuing discussion through the incredible story of God!

This week read:  ch. 11 of The Story or 1 Samuel 16-18; 24; 31; 2 Sam 6; 22; 1 Chronicles 17 and Psalm 59

Week Ten: Standing Tall, Falling Hard

Keeping up with the Joneses isn't usually a good idea.  It's a really terrible one when the Joneses are headed down a dangerous path!

Do you remember when you were in middle school?  Despite my best efforts to block out such unpleasant memories, I sure do!  It was an awkward time... physically, mentally, emotionally AND spiritually for me.  I look back now and realize that I was trying to figure out who I was and who I was going to be... but at the time I would have just described it as awful.  I wasn't particularly athletic, but I looked around and wanted to be like all of the jocks in my school.... they made it look so cool and always had lots of friends, including cheerleaders.  Who wouldn't want to be admired like that.  Unfortunately, I couldn't shoot a basketball into a goal to save my life.  I was afraid of baseballs hurtling towards my head and I was too small to play football, so sports was pretty much out.  I looked at the "preppies" in my school and wanted to be like them.  They dressed like they had just walked off the set of "Saved by the Bell" and boy were they cool!  I could be like them, I thought.  I could look cool, too.

It can be a dangerous thing when we look around at others around us and only want to be like them... especially when we know that we've been called to be something different.  Such was the case with Israel in this week's lesson.  Called by God out from the world, they were supposed to represent God to the world.  But during the period when the judges ruled Israel, they got to looking around at the world and at the way other nations did business.... and came to the conclusion that they wanted a king like everybody else had.  Apart from it just being just a really stupid idea, what could be wrong with that?  What could be wrong with wanting a strong, Godly person to really take charge and run things the way they wanted them to be run?

It sounds almost.... I don't know... patriotic.  Doesn't it?  They were ready for independence.  They were ready to make decisions for themselves.  They were tired of being told what to do all of the time and were ready for someone to really lead them into bigger and better things!  The only problem was... in their rejection of the judges, they weren't only rejecting Samuel personally, they were rejecting God and His rule.  Their temptation was self-governance, self-rule and independence from God.... THAT was the problem and THAT is what doomed them to failure before the great experiment of a king even got off the ground.

This week as you read about Saul, Israel's first king, ask yourself... what area of my life am I still holding onto, wanting to rule myself instead of submitting it over to the Lord's rule?  Just a thought.

Week 9 The Faith of a Foreign Woman

This week's lesson gives us a bit of a respite from the fast-paced and action-packed story of Israel that we have been following for several weeks now.  As we come to week nine, we come to the story of Ruth.  Set during the time period of the Judges, Ruth gives us a glimpse into the daily lives of the Israelites as they struggled to eke out an existence in the midst of national turmoil.

What strikes me immediately about the book of Ruth is that it made it into the canon at all.  Rather than it being a story of a great and powerful leader of Israel, the story is rather a domestic tale of a woman, her two daughters-in-law and their commitment to one another.  Naomi and her husband, rather than staying in the Land of Promise, choose to move to Moab... a rather despicable country probably still angry with Israel over their past humiliating defeat.  In Moab, not only does Naomi's husband die, but also her two sons... leaving her with only two daughters-in-law who are actually Moabites, not Israelites.  Naomi makes the difficult decision to leave and return to her home in Canaan, which may have been made rather easy since she would have had no way to support herself in Moab.   Rather than returning to their families, however, Ruth decides to return with her... thus she becomes a "foreign woman" living in the land of Israel.

The remarkable thing about Ruth is that this story really isn't even about her.  It's about God, even though He plays a relatively minor role in the narrative.  Through their family struggles, it is God who works through a man named Boaz to redeem Naomi's family.  Without giving away too much- in case you haven't read it yet- the redemption of this family becomes vitally important to the Story of God... as it is through Ruth that David is born.  David, of course, becomes not only the greatest King Israel ever had, but also a precursor to the Messiah.

It's all really intriguing and I'm looking forward to diving into this great story on Sunday!  Invite a friend to join us.

Week Eight "A Few Good Men... and Women"

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  If we use this definition, then the people of Israel look pretty crazy in this chapter of The Story.  In the time of the Judges the people of God went through the same cycle over and over again.  Each time they rebelled and turned away from God they would face the same results: a foreign army would invade and they would end up an oppressed, occupied, and broken nation.

You would think that after living through this cycle two or three times they would have caught on.  But this chapter of The Story makes clear that they did not learn from past experience.  Every time they ended up oppressed and abandoned, they were shocked!

As we read these Bible accounts, it would be easy to wag a finger at our ancestors of the faith.  But when we look into a mirror and examine our own lives, we just might see ourselves acting a lot like the people of Israel, wallowing in the same cycle of s
in month after month and year after year.

-- Randy Frazee  "Getting to the Heart of God's Story"

Week Seven: The Battle Begins!

I’ve always loved Mission: Impossible, the classic television series from the 1960’s NOT the horrendous modern remakes with Tom Cruise' picture stamped all over it.  No offense to the Maverick, but the Tom Cruise movies (five to date with another one on its way)  just don’t seem to capture the spirit of the original t.v. series, cheesy though it may be.  Call me old-fashioned.  Call me a purist.  But I just prefer the old one.  The original

series always started in the same way.  Jim Phelps, the leader of the Mission-Impossible-Force would enter into some obscure place and find hidden somewhere a tape player (dated, I know, ‘What’s a tape player?’)  Pushing play, Jim would then proceed to receive his mission for the next hour-long, action-filled episode.  Once the taped briefing concluded he would then hear, “Should you or any member of your IMF team be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.  This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.  Good luck, Jim.”  Then the theme music would play and the team was off!  What followed, of course, over the next hour (with commercial breaks intermittently breaking in with a word from their sponsor) was the IMF team then facing insurmountable odds, incredible difficulties and impossible enemies.  They would always come out on top, though, and usually achieved the so-called “impossible mission.”

As we come to chapter seven of The Story this week and the book of Joshua, we are privileged to overhear the Lord brief Joshua, Moses’ chosen successor, on his “impossible mission.”  Joshua 1:1-9.  He was to lead the people to finally take possession of the land that God had promised to their forefather, Abraham more than 650 years before!  First, they were a rag-tag bunch of homeless nomads who had spent the last forty years camping out in the desert of Sinai.  The four hundred years before that they had been slaves in Egypt!  No military training.  No high-powered artillery.  No nukes.  What’s more, their enemies were many and were quite intimidating.  Thirty eight years before they had been so intimidating that 8 out of the 10 spies sent into the land came back saying, “There’s no way!  It is impossible!”

But God had other plans.  He was bound and determined that Israel take possession of the land they had been promised.  Instead of promising to disavow him should anything go wrong, God promised to go with him every step of the way.  I am looking forward to the lesson on Sunday as we talk about the battles Joshua waged to receive what God wanted to give to him and to all of Israel… and especially at how God prepared them to do it.  In your reading of The Story, pay careful attention to how God prepared Israel for battle.

And join us Sunday for worship at 9am.  The Battle Begins!

Week 6: Wanderings... "Are we there yet?"

I suppose we've all been on those road trips with the family.  I remember them as a kid.  I've experienced them as a parent.  It always seems like a good idea at the time.  An amazing location everybody wants to visit... Disneyworld, the beach, Washington D.C., the Promised Land.  Who wouldn't want to go?  It sounds great.  The only problem is... well, getting there.

We pack everything we think we might need.  We load up our vehicles.  We fill the tank and we're off!  Two... four... six... eight hours in the car with those we love the most, our family.  What could go wrong?
"Stop touching me!  Mom, make him stop touching me.  He's touching me."
"Dad, so-n-so is on my side of the car."
"Are we there yet?"
"I've got to pee."
"How much farther?"
"I'm hungry!"
"Is that a Crackle Barrell?"  (this one is an inside joke for our family, sorry.)

And don't forget... "Don't make me come back there?"
This one always comes from the front seat after the back seat has evolved into complete and utter chaos.  It is usually followed by, "Because I'll pull this car over and come back there!" or "I'll turn this car around!  Don't believe me?  Just try it again, mister."  (Everybody knows dad isn't going to actually turn the car around... he's got too much invested by this point, right?  right?"

This week we come to this part of the story... the road trip.  We've read about Moses being sent to Egypt to rescue the children of Israel from slavery.  He did that.  We've read about the amazing act of God that brought them through the Red Sea and onto dry land.  That happened.  And last week we read the bit about him going up to meet God on Mount Sinai and receiving the Ten Commandments.  The unpacking of the Law can be an arduous and tedious process, not to mention it is easy to get lost in the complexities of it.  Hopefully, I made it accessible and practical in last week's lesson as I tried to get at the heart of the Law.  And now we are ready for the Promised Land!  A land flowing with milk and honey... a land promised to Israel since the days of Abraham... many, many years before.  The people of Israel are now ready... the only problem is getting there.

This week... the journey to the Promised Land... more aptly titled, "Wanderings."  There are many ups and downs in their journey.  There are unexpected detours and unexpected delays.  Such is always the case with long road trips.  In this instance, however, God is wanting to teach them something.  He wants to instruct them in how to be the nation He wants for them to be BEFORE they ever get to the land of promise.  And so the trip itself is filled with hard lessons and not-just-a-little discipline along the way.  They will learn... but they will learn the hard way... and those who begun the journey will have to be content to allow the next generation to enjoy the final destination, because they will not be allowed to enter in.  It will be a long, hard forty years.

The Christian life is a journey as well.  Our destination is set.  We are bound for the Promised Land, too, right?  Our ultimate destination goal is Heaven with God... and yet the journey is not to be disregarded.  It is the journey which will prepare us to enter in... when it is time.  Are we learning the lessons along the way?  Are we preparing ourselves for the final destination in the way we are walking day to day?  Good questions to ask ourselves as we read thru chapter six of The Story this week.

Thanks & have a blessed week.

Week Five: New Commands & a New Covenant

“Okay, let’s go over the rules.”

The words of my school principal are still fresh as I think back to the first day of my 7^th grade year at Hixson Junior High.  That’s what you do on the first day.  You go over the rules.  “We don’t want anybody to misunderstand,” he would reason.  “Everybody needs to know what we expect.”  

Of course it was a thrilling exercise… an exercise repeated again my 8^th grade year and again my 9^th grade year.  For what seemed like an eternity he would read the student handbook to us, verbatim, line by line, with his glasses fixed firmly to the end of his nose.  It was excruciating.  Yet it was the same year after year.  After that I went into high school and don’t remember.  I probably stopped listening.  Or stopped caring.

That’s how a lot of people view the Christian life… having to listen to and then follow a bunch of rules.  Nobody likes rules.  You remember what your best friend said in high school (or was it just mine?)  “C'mon, Jimmy, rules were meant to be broken!”  That’s how a lot of us feel about rules and why some people are so turned off by the Bible and particularly the large section of it we call LAW.  It just reeks of “thou shalt nots.”  Who wants to give their lives to a system of rules that just take the joy out of life?  Nobody does.

Ahhh… but here is where we misunderstand the Law… the Bible and the whole story of God himself!  This week we enter into chapter five of “The Story” and are reading in that section of Scripture called the Law.  We will read of Moses, recently the people’s deliverer, summoned up to the mountain of the LORD to receive the famous Ten Commandments.  We will read of the laws given in fire and thunder then carved into the tablets of stone by God’s own hand.  And we will read of the people’s quick return to idolatry during Moses’ extended absence on the mountain.  But what are we to make of the Law?  Much is still debated on the role of the Ten Commandments in our day.  Are we to get all bent out of shape when such laws are posted in the public square?  Is it a violation of church and state?  What significance do they have for us, anyway, 3,500+ years on?  

As you read through the Law this week, I want to encourage you to look for things in the Law:

Look at the kind of people God calls Israel to be.

Look at the extent to which the people will have to go in order to atone for their sin and what it will cost them.

Look for the way in which God is going to “dwell” with His people once more.

And look for the way in which these laws are going to prepare the way for Jesus.

As we discover those four things, we will begin to see a bit more clearly just what God was 'up to' in his 'upper story' to bring his fallen creation back unto himself.

It’s Easter Sunday this week.  As we remember the empty tomb, let us not forget the story that brought us there

Week Four: Deliverance (a.k.a. “The Reluctant Swashbuckler”)

 In all the stories in the Bible, there is no more daring and adventurous a hero as Moses!  No one can forget the classic portrayal by Charlton Heston in the movie that reruns every year on tv around this time… “The Ten Commandments.”  He has most recently been played on the screen by Christian Bale, best known as Batman in the Dark Knight series.  I have to admit to being a little giddy when his casting was announced.  I imagined him uttering Heston’s famous line in his signature “Batman” voice… “Let my people go.”  Alas, I was disappointed.  But I digress…

As we come to chapter four of “The Story” and move into the opening chapters of Exodus we immediately realize that the situation we left at the end of Genesis has changed quite a bit.  Its one of those “we’re not in Kansas, anymore, Toto” moments as the Scriptures reveal to us that a new Pharaoh has arisen in Egypt- one who careth not about Joseph… or his descendants.  In fact for most of the 400 years they have lived in Egypt since the time of Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, they have been slaves… forced to work tirelessly for their relentless Egyptian masters. 

Never fear!  God has heard their cries of despair and has been preparing a young man to deliver them from their oppression.  As always with God, it all happens in His timing, however.  Moses is born during a particularly harsh time for Hebrew boys.  The Pharaoh, fearful that the Hebrews will outnumber and eventually overpower those in control, has ordered the infanticide of infant boys.  Moses’ mother saves him only by giving him up.  Left in the Nile River, Moses is found and subsequently adopted into the home of the Pharaoh’s daughter.  He grows up in the household of Pharaoh, no doubt being exposed to all of the finer things in life.  The best education.  The finest foods.  The fastest camels.  His life is destined for luxury at least.  Yet it takes a turn when he –in a fit of anger- picks a fight with an Egyptian slave-master who is mercilessly beating a Hebrew slave.  The man ends up dead and Moses hides the body to avoid suspicion.  Obviously, Moses is aware of his identity as a Hebrew by this time and has in mind that he is going to free them.  (cf. Acts 7:25)  This does not happen.  Instead Moses is driven from Egypt into Midian where he will spend the next 40 years tending sheep for a man who becomes his father-in-law.  I love his name: Jethro.    

God’s plan springs into action when He appears to Moses from within a burning bush… and some would say the rest is history.  What strikes me is the reluctance with which God’s call on Moses’ life is met.  When God calls Moses, in contrast to Abram’s reaction back in chapter two of “The Story”, Moses refuses.  “You’ve got the wrong guy,” he says to God.  In fact, he goes on and argues with God!  He gives God every excuse in the book as to why he should NOT be the one to go down and face the new Pharaoh demanding the release of his people.  He gives a pretty convincing argument, too.  I wouldn’t hire the guy.  But God never picks the wrong guy… and when you’ve been picked by God you better believe that God is going to get his way!  We haven’t read the story of Jonah yet, but he should’ve read about Moses before he did what he did!  That’s what I think anyway. 

Why do you suppose Moses struggled with the call of God on his life?  Why didn’t he want to go?  Do you think he was afraid?  Was he tired? (he was 80 afterall!)  What about you?  What has God asked you to do?  Have you accepted or are you still arguing back-and-forth with Him?  Why or why not?

Chapter Three... "Favorite Son"

I read this week about a girl named Jennifer.  She had attended church where Randy Frazee, the editor of "The Story" was preaching at the time.  She had come up in a rough family situation.  Single mom.  Drug-addict brother.  She was bound and determined to "make it" in life. but the cards seemed stacked against her.  But she was a "dreamer."

She dreamed of going to college and becoming a nurse.  She imagined herself helping people, especially people who were hurting.  She had a sharp mind and a tender heart and she wanted to learn the skills necessary to help hurting people when they needed it most.  Her family was unable to carry the financial burden of college, however so Jennifer was pretty much on her own with her dreams.  After high school she was accepted into college - one with a strong nursing program- but she didn't have the money to pay her tuition.  She didn't give up.  Deferring her dream a little while, she took a job and began saving every penny, hoping one day to have enough.  Week by week, dollar by dollar, Frazee tells, she saved her money in a special box that she hid in her bedroom.

Meanwhile, her brother had some run-ins with police.  He had begun stealing things and had gotten into some trouble in school.  Jennifer loved her brother and helped him in every way she could.  One week, she went to deposit her paycheck into her savings box and when she opened it, she discovered all but $20 was missing!  Her own brother had stolen from her to support his habit.  Her dream was shattered... and she felt betrayed.

Personal betrayal cuts to the core.  Many of us have experienced it... some by a family member or a close friend.  Those hurt the worst.  In our story this week, Joseph experienced betrayal by his own brothers.  Not just a little one either.  His brothers conspire against him, sell him to traveling gypsies, and lie to their father about his whereabouts.  They tell their father, Jacob, that his favorite son Joseph is dead.  He isn't of course.  He is enslaved in Egypt and spends the next 22 years struggling with one injustice after another.  At the end, however, God has blessed him and placed him in a position second only to the Pharaoh in Egypt!  It's a remarkable rise to power and is attributable solely to the creator of the universe divinely blessing Joseph.

When his brothers journey to Egypt seeking relief from the famine and realize that it is their punk little brother running the country, they are aghast!  And yet by the end of the "chapter" Joseph has demonstrated such amazing forgiveness.  How could Joseph have such a view of things?  This Sunday we will discuss what it was that enabled Joseph to forgive his brothers and reunite with them.  How can we deal so well with the difficulties life throws our way?

Jennifer?  Her story ends well.  One Sunday in worship she made the decision to let it go and to forgive her brother.  She dropped her last remaining $20 in the collection plate and wrote a note to the preacher telling him of her decision.  When he tracked her down he asked for permission to tell her story, which he did the following Sunday.  After services a couple along with a few others approached him and committed to paying for Jennifer to attend school... not just one semester... but all of it!  Today she is an oncology nurse, a devoted wife and a loving mother.  God does have a way of working things out.

"And we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose."  -Romans 8:28

--Jim

(story told by Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story.  Chapter 3- "I Dreamed a Dream.")

Week Two: God Builds a Nation

I can already tell that I'm going to be pulling my hair out for the next 31 weeks!  (What's left of it anyway.)  I've been reading through chapter two this week and I'm really struggling to figure out how to approach preaching it on Sunday.  There is so much here!  Chapter two picks up with the call of Abram.  A few years ago I did an 8 week series through the life of Abraham.  In 2013 I did another 6 week series through the patriarchs, "Founding Fathers."  I am faced this week with how to compound what took me fourteen weeks to preach previously into one knock 'em out sermon.  Can it be done?  I doubt it.

Here's some of the many ways I could go with this... see what you think:

• The call of Abram... how God tapped an unlikely elderly couple living in the middle of ancient Mesopotamia to play the most vital role in human history, save perhaps Adam & Eve, up to that point.
• The faith of Abram... how God obeyed and went when God told him to go, even though God would not tell him where he would be going!
• How God made an unbelievable promise to this elderly couple, who also had happened to be barren all of their life... that they would have a child in their old age.  Sarai laughed and is it any wonder?  Wouldn't you?
• How Abraham & Lot had to part ways at one point, but then Lot got himself into a fair amount of trouble and Abraham had to come to the rescue.  This is the one "Action & Adventure" part of the story that is fairly exciting to me!
• I am intrigued that God allowed Abraham to plead with Him over the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah... two places which had become "hell on earth" in their debauchery and sin.  "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
• I bask in the fulfillment of promise as Isaac indeed is born and becomes heir to the riches of God... yet am left scratching my head in disbelief at the request made of Abraham to take his boy to Mount Moriah and there sacrifice Him.  The Lord provides.  Thank you Lord that Abraham learned this most important lesson and was faithful.
• The love story of Isaac and Rebekah intrigues me... but not more so than the love story of Jacob & Rachel.... and Leah.  Two women... sure does seem like an awful dirty trick (Laban!)  
• God's nation begins to take shape as Jacob becomes the father of not one, not two, not three... but TWELVE bouncing baby boys... boys who would grow up and become the fathers or the patriarchs of the twelve tribes.
• and I am particularly struck by Jacob... by his tumultuous childhood, his deceptive nature, his reunion with an estranged brother and by his honest wrestling with God.  Don't we all wrestle with God?

Well... where would you go on Sunday?  As you read through chapter two this week ask yourself two questions:  (1) What is God 'up to' here?  What is he doing?  and (2)  What is He calling ME to do in response?

See you Sunday.  Have a blessed rest of the week.

Jim

Week One: The Beginning of Life as We Know It

Chapter One of "The Story"-  (Genesis 1-9)

Have you ever been to the movies and walked in just after it’s already started?  Maybe you were out in the lobby getting popcorn and you came in a few minutes late… then spent the next two hours trying to figure out what is happening?  You’re completely lost because you missed the beginning?  Chapter one of “The Story” acts as a cornerstone foundation for the entire rest of the Bible.  Don’t miss it or you’ll be lost for the next 32 weeks!

You might say the story begins with a “Bang”… but don’t misunderstand, it’s no accident the creation of the cosmos depicted in Genesis ch. 1.  It’s all the purposeful and intentional act of God creating the heavens and the earth… and all that is within it… the cosmos in all of its vast array.  What a magnificent creation it is!  Gen. 1 reads like a beautiful work of poetry as it eloquently describes each of the seven days of creation.  The light and the darkness.  The waters and the sky.  The stars and the earth.  God’s masterful artistry was on full display.  And at the end of each day God sits back and writes in his journal, “It is good.”

But it isn’t great.  As beautiful and magnificent as the creation was… that wasn’t the end of God’s work.  In fact, it wasn’t even the point of it all.  On the sixth day God had one more thing to create.  One more masterpiece.  And it would be crown jewel of it all! 

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  (Gen. 1:26 NIV)

Join us Sunday!

The Story Begins... Sunday!

We will begin our 32 week journey through the Story of God together this Sunday, March 1st!  If you haven't gotten your copy you'll want to grab one.  A new order will be made this week from the church.  We are sold out!
For Sunday, let me encourage you to read the book's introduction.  We will start in Genesis next week!  Download a reading plan by clicking on the link to the right.
Immerse yourself in the story of God!

Download the Reading Plan Today!

Click here to download the reading plan today!

We are going to track week to week from chapter to chapter in "The Story"... which is really just an editing of the Biblical text into a chronological order.  Our aim is not to read every word of every verse, but to get a sense of the overarching narrative, or "Story" of God as we read.  You can read along in your own Bible if you do not have a copy of "The Story" by following along on this downloadable reading plan.

Join us as we immerse ourselves into the incredible story of God together!

Begins.... March 1st

Join the Washington Street church family as we read through the marvelous and incredible story of God together this year!

Purchase your copy of "The Story" by clicking on the links to the right OR at the church building.  Limited quantities will be available for $5 in both NIV and KJV translations.

If you have a question about which translation is best for you... check out the article on Translations by clicking the link on the right.

OR -if you do not wish to purchase a copy of "The Story" -you can follow along by reading the assigned texts in your own favorite Bible each week. Click on the READING PLAN to the right for each week's covered texts.