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PASTOR’S WELCOME
I want to welcome you to the Hindman Methodist Church. Thank you for taking the time to visit us on our Website. The Web-site is a new venture for us. In the future we will be adding features and updating others. Soon we hope to be able to take you on a picture tour of the church so that if you visit (and we hope you will), you will already be familiar with the church and where things are located.
Some might ask questions like, "Do I have to dress up to come to your
church? Do you have a dress code? Are you against tattoos or body
piercing? Others have asked such questions as, "Can I come to your
church if I am divorced …in a live-in relationship … or struggling to
get off drugs?"
We promise to welcome you, love you and accept you just like you are. We believe that any genuine and long-lasting change that is needed in a person’s life doesn’t come from the church pressuring people to live up to the standards the church has set. Real lasting change comes from the Holy Spirit moving in our lives as we join together to worship, study God’s word, and participate in one of the several small groups we offer for sharing, support and spiritual growth.
If you are looking for a church family to come home to … give us a try.
In the love of Christ,
Pastor John Shroll
SERIES THEME: The God Link
SERIES PURPOSE: The purpose of this series is to deepen the prayer life of the congregation in order to glorify God by accomplishing His purpose for us.
SERIES TEXT: Acts 2:41 - 47 especially 42 They devoted themselves to … prayer. // SERMON TEXT: Romans 12:1-3 // SERMON #5: The Glass Ceiling
I. GOD DEALS TO EVERY CHRISTIAN A MEASURE OF FAITH.
1. The writer of Hebrews (11:6) teaches us that, "Without faith it is impossible to please ... God..."
2. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:3 reads , "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Notice the last ten words of this verse, "God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." These ten words are saying three things to us.
a. First, every human being has been dealt faith. Everybody believes in someone or something. You and I were born with the capacity for faith. People may their faith in themselves, or others, or their bank account; in something that they can taste, smell, touch, hear or see. Many people do not put their faith in God. As a pastor I have witnessed many people receive terrible news that breaks their heart or suffer an injury that racks their body with pain and they say, "O God! O God!'
b. The Second thing we learn from these ten words is that God is the One who deals humans the faith they have. Romans12:3 says, "" God hath dealt to every man... faith." It is like a game of cards. God owns the deck and God is the dealer and God deals faith to every man.
c. The third thing we learn from these ten words is that God is the One who measures faith out and deals it and it is an equal measure. Romans 12:3 reads. "God hath dealt to every man the "measure of faith”. In the game of 500 Rummy, the rule book says that the dealer is to measure out one card at a time and deal it to each player until each player has seven cards. If you are playing the game in the dealer's house or using the dealer's deck, the measure of cards dealt to each player doesn't change. The dealer does not capriciously or arbitrarily deal seven to one player and eight to another and five to a third player. This would be cheating and unfair. It is against the rule book.
In our prayer life and in all of our Christian life God measures out an equal amount of faith and deals it to each person. God is a holy, fair and just God. He deals an equal measure of faith to each person.
3. Some people have misinterpreted this verse to mean that "the measure of faith" God deals to each person is not equal. For example they would say that "the measure of faith" God dealt the Apostle Paul was greater than the measure of faith God dealt to most of us; this enabled Paul to be a great soul-winner and disciple-maker. In this generation they would say that the measure of faith God dealt Beth Meyer is greater than God gave most of us; this enables her to be an inspirational teacher to thousands of people.
a. This wrong interpretation relieves Christians of any responsibility to God for their faith. For example, a professing Christian who is caught up in worldly pursuits and who is not bearing the inner fruit of a Christ-like character and who is not bearing any outer fruit of making disciples, merely says, God has not given me the "measure of faith" to do these things. It is God's fault that I am not very fruitful in my Christian life. God did not give me the measure of faith to do it.
b. This is not what the Bible says. II Peter 1:5 tells us to give "all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge ..." God gives an equal measure of faith to each of us but you and I are responsible to God for "adding" to that faith. Jude 1:20-21 reads, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21.Keep yourselves in the love of God..." God is telling us in Jude 1:20-21 that God gives each of us “the equal measure” but it is up to us to increase, and strengthen the faith we have.
4. How well we apply "measure of faith" that God deals" to us determines the depth and breadth and the strength of our equal number
a. In the game of 500 Rummy, each player starts with the same number of cards but the values on those card differ. The seven cards we are dealt may be a two of clubs, a three of diamonds, a six of heart or they may be the higher scoring face card: an ace, king or queen. The number of card may be equal but one hand of seven cards may be better than another hand of seven card.
b. Likewise, God gives us the same measure of faith but some have better hands than others. I was born the son of a father who abandoned us to be raised poor but I was given the same measure of faith. Another person may have been born to a Christian family where there was plenty food on the table but they have the same measure of faith.
In the game of Rummy the outcome of the game depends on skill, attentiveness, and focus. Some one who has a terrible hand can end up winning the hand and someone who was dealt a great hand may loose the hand.
The Christian life is like that. God dealt us the same measure of faith but some have better hands than others. It is not the hand that determines whether we are an Apostle Paul who accomplishes miraculous things or a Demas who gives up the faith and returns to world, or the Christians in Laodicea who remain lukewarm. Our fruitfulness depends on how we apply the measure of faith we were dealt.
II. “THE MEASURE OF FAITH” GOD DEALS US CAN ACCOMPLISH MIRACULOUS AND INCREDIBLE FRUIT IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIVES, IN OUR PRAYER LIFE AND IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH.
1 Ephesians 3:20 reads, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.." God's power of the Holy Spirit is working in Christians and in the church. The power of the Holy Spirit can do "exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or thing".
2. The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Lord, Increase our faith." Jesus did not deny that faith could be increased but told them, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you."
3. Jesus seems to be saying to His disciples, "Before asking for an increase in faith, recognize the power that is in the faith you have, regardless of the amount. Apply that faith and it will bear miraculous fruit for the glory of God and your faith will increase in measure.
4. We are more responsible that we realize for the equal “measure of faith” God deals us.
5. Why are we not "turning the world upside down" for Jesus? In Luke 17:5-6,
III. MANY CHRISTIANS HAVE A GLASS CEILING OVERE THEIR CHRISTIAN LIVES AND THEIR PRAYER LIVES; MANY CHURCHES HAVE THAT SAME GLASS CEILING.
1. The Windex Commercial - The glass is a clear, invisible and impermeable barrier. I get a laugh every time I see that Windex commercial where the two crows are setting on a line watching a woman clean the patio door windows. One crow turns to the other and says, "Watch this!" About that time, the woman's husband starts to walk out on to the patio. The husband doesn't see glass door. To the glee of the crows sitting on the line, the husband crashes into the window and fall back onto the floor in a heap. What makes the story especially cute is the tables being turned; in stead of humans watching birds fly into the windows, birds are watching humans bang into windows.
2. The early church in Acts was running into a glass ceiling, their Jewish religious training.
a. Despite the words of Jesus, Jews continued to believe Christ was only for the Jews.
b. Samaritans were the Ten Tribes of Israel that had been polluted as a nation with idolatry and intermarriage with pagans. They were not considered able to be Christians but then they accept Jesus and were filled with the Spirit. They had to accept the fact that the gospel was for the Samaritians.
c. Cornelius was a "God-fearer" the name given for Gentiles who believed in the God of Abraham. They were considered to not be able to be a Christian until Peter preached to them and they were converted and Spirit-filled, then the church had to admit that the gospel was for God-fearers as well.
d. The early church believed that Jesus was not for the Gentile then Gentiles were converted and Spirit-filled and the church had to recognize that Jesus was for Gentiles.
e. Many in the early church believed that Gentile converts were to observe the Jewish laws and become Jews before they could be Christian.
3. I think most Christians if not all come into the Christian faith with a "glass ceiling" composed of the things they have been taught over the years about the Christ-life, about the church, about the Christian life: truths, half truths and un-truths.
a. Many people are not aware of their glass ceiling. It is invisible to them. It keep them from striving to go any farther in their faith or when they do, it keeps them from progress.
b. Their glass ceiling can keep them from climbing any higher in their Christian life.nough to reach it.
b. Those who sense there is more to the Christian life than they are experiencing and begin to climb, run right into the glass ceiling.
4. How do we break through that glass window and allow God to make us who He wants us to be?
a. Matthew 14:23 - 32 tells the story of Jesus up in the mountains praying and his disciples out in a boat on the sea of Galilee tossed by the wind and waves. Jesus comes to them walking on the sea telling them not to be afraid. Simon Peter said, "If that's you let me come to you walking on the water.Jesus told Peter to come and Peter did. But when Peter took his focus on Jesus and put them on the waves, he begin to sink and prayed the shortest prayer in the Bible, "Lord save me."
5. Peter illustrates what it takes to break the glass ceiling.
a. The Holy Spirit, like Jesus did to Peter, calling out, “Come to me, beyond the glass ceiling.
b. Our willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to show us what lies beyond the glass ceiling.
c. Our willingness to utilize the measure of faith God has dealt us to get out of the boat and walk to him.
d. The power of the Holy Spirit enables us to do the impossible and break through that glass ceiling.
SERIES THEME: The God Link
SERIES PURPOSE: The purpose of this series is to deepen the prayer life of the congregation in order to glorify God by accomplishing His purpose for us.
SERIES TEXT: Acts 2:41 - 47 especially 42 They devoted themselves to … prayer.
SERMON TEXT: Luke 22:31-33; James 5:16
SERMON #4:
INTRODUCTION
The Sunday Evening Huddle is for anyone but
especially those who have a faith in Jesus and cares about His body, the
I'm not suggesting that the Holy Spirit speaks
verbally through someone. But we believe the Holy Spirit is there and
working to guide us in our discussion and to give us direction.
Something someone says will begin to resonate in all of our hearts and
we recognize that it is the Holy Spirit. As we share together the Holy
Spirit gives us a plan.
It was the Holy Spirit that guided us to focus on
our need, personally and as a congregation, to deepen our prayer life.
Last Sunday Night the question was asked, “As we
continue on this focus on prayer, is there some additional thing we
should do to develop this focus?” One person suggested having Prayer
Partners so that individuals could keep each other accountable for their
personal daily prayer life. The person suggested that it was a need in
his life and therefore could be a need in the lives of others.
Another person commented that our focused prayer time in the
worship service is addressing our congregational prayer life but this
would help to deepen our individual prayer life. This resonated in the
Huddle and was considered the direction of God not just a person’s good
idea. There is a lot of good ideas we could come up with but what one is
God's direction?
Any time you get a direction from God, it's
important to see what the word of God says. The verses of Luke 22:31-33
and James 5:16 describe a PASE Partnership. PASE stands for Prayer
Accountability, Sharing & Encouraging Partnership.
EXPOSITION
I. PASE PARTNERS PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER.
1. In Luke 22
Jesus was telling His apostles how he appreciated them standing with Him
through the hardships they endured in the past several years together.
He tells them that in the future they will sit at His table in the
2. I picture Jesus stopping at that point and looking at Simon Peter,
Jesus says (Luke 22:31),
“Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired
to have
you, that he may sift
you
as wheat:
I sense the compassion in Jesus when He repeats Simon’s name twice.
Jesus was identifying with the struggle Simon was about to face.
4. The devil was about ready to
"sift ...(him) as wheat."
That is a great analogy of what satan wants us to do to each of us. This
analogy reminds me of a gift my son Chuck got for my son Chris. It is a
hand operated grate that you push whole potato through and it cut them
into a bunch of french-fry pieces. It's pretty cool but not so good for
the potato. That what satan wanted to do to Peter and to us. He wants to
take any wholeness we have and shred us into a bunch of little pieces
parts.
5. But then Jesus says (Luke 22:32),
“
But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not…”
Jesus was modeling for us what James would later write in James 5:16,
"pray
one for another, that ye may be healed..."
Jesus was joining Peter in the struggle Simon Peter was about to face
and praying for him.
6. PASE partnerships are about having a friend to join you as you
pray for each other in
the struggles and joys you face.
II. PASE PARTNERS HOLD EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE.
1.
When Jesus told Simon Peter about his coming struggle, Peter said to
Jesus in
Luke 22:33,
“Lord, I am ready to go with thee,
both into prison, and to death.” Have you ever promised more
than you could deliver? Perhaps you are unrealistic in your
expectations. You dig a hole for yourself.
2. Have any of you watched any segments on TV of
“America Has Talent”
or “American Idol?” There is some great talent interspersed with people
who are just awful. They make a fool of themselves because they are
doing something stupid or trying to do something for which they have no
talent. I can’t watch it. It makes me feel embarrassment for them. It is
a painful reminder of times when I have done something stupid or
over-reached my capabilities.
All I can think of is, “Don’t they have a friend who cares enough to
give them a reality check?
3. Jesus could have let Peter slide with his comment, “I’ll go with you
to prison and death.” But that was not what was going to happen. Jesus
gives Peter a reality check (Luke 22:34),
“I tell
thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt
thrice deny that thou knowest me. Jesus was NOT being
critical of Jesus or judgmental. He was holding Simon Peter accountable
for what he was about to happen. Peter could never look back and say,
“Why didn’t my friend, Jesus, warn me.”
4. PASE Partnerships are about
knowing about some one and
caring about them so
that you can give them a reality check and hold them accountable for
their actions especially their daily devotional life.
III. PASE PARTNERS SHARE
THEIR LIFE AND STAND BY
EACH OTHER.
1.
Praying for a PASE Partner and holding each accountable requires
a relationship that has been built by sharing with each other and
standing by each other. I don’t want strangers that don’t know me or
care about me try to hold me accountable. They have not earned the
right.
2. In the NIV translation Jesus commends His Apostles in
Luke 22:28 "You
are those who stood by me in my trials." It was now toward the
end of Jesus’ three-year earthly ministry. They had
shared in attending
weddings together. They had
shared traveling those dirty, dusty mountain roads together.
They had shared facing
the menacing crowds together. They shared the threat posed by religious
leaders plotting to kill Jesus. They had faced together their struggle
to understand the teachings of their master. They had been through a lot
together.
3. They stood by Jesus and Jesus stood by them.
v
Jesus says in the Gospel of John (17:12),
“While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name
you gave me.”
v
James 5:16,
"Confess your faults to one
another
4. PASE PARTNERSHIPS is about sharing your life with a friend and
standing by each other through your struggle.
5. It is in sharing and standing by each that:
v
enables you to know what to pray for
v
enables you to have the relationship to hold each other accountable.
1.
Jesus said in Luke 22:32, "But I have prayed for you, Simon,
that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen
your brothers."
Jesus is recognizing in the coming struggle of Simon Peter a real
danger. Simon Peter’s faith could fail.. Simon Peter could have never
turned back. He could go back to being the profane fisherman he had been
before he met Jesus.
2. Jesus encouraged Simon Peter by believing in him. Notice
Jesus said,
“when you turn back” and not
“if” you turn back. Jesus believed in Simon Peter despite all his
frailties and blustering behavior.
3. Jesus encouraged Simon Peter by pointing to a positive future when
Jesus said (22:32), “when
you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Jesus is pointing out to Simon that when he gets through this struggle,
God is going to be able to use this failing to enable Simon Peter
strengthen his brothers and sisters in their walk.
5. PASE Partners
encourage each other by believing in each other and helping them to see
that
v
God is going to bring them through their struggles
v
God is going to make their struggle meaningful and purposeful
v
God has for them a positive future outcome.
CONCLUSION
We encourage those in the
congregation to form PASE (Prayer Accountability Sharing &Encouraging)
Partnerships. PASE Partners will hold each other accountable for daily
Bible reading and prayer. A PASE Partner is someone with whom you can
share your faith walk, struggles and prayer requests. PASE Partners
encourage each other. Partners will pray for self, their partner, and
the spiritual and numerical growth of the church. The congregation is
free to choose their own PASE Partners but let me or Jennifer Hale know
so that we can track who has a partner and who does not. On the bulletin
board at the back of the sanctuary, you will find a sign up sheet and
list of those who have already formed partnerships. Those who do not yet
have partners and would like to be involved, the pastor and Jenifer Hale
will work with you to match you with a partner with whom you feel
comfortable.
FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK…
Why I Oppose Gambling
There is a movement in the Commonwealth to add Casino Gambling to
lottery tickets and racetrack gambling. I would not write this article
if this were only an economic or political issue, because I am neither a
politician nor an economist, but many people like me see a moral
component to this issue of gambling. When there is the slightest
suspicion of a moral component to an issue, then Christians are
compelled to go to the Word of God for clarity. What are the moral
implications of gambling?
Zechariah 7:10 reads, “Oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the
stranger, nor the poor…” This doesn’t mean that everyone else is fair
game. It means that we are not to oppress anyone, especially the most
vulnerable in our society. It is commonly said that gambling “is a tax
on the poor.” The meaning of this is simple. Some poor people believe
that there is ZERO chance that they will ever have enough money to free
them from financial worry: to have a nice home, car, and a safety net in
the form of a savings account. A lottery ticket or a slot machine offers
hope that it could happen. These same people consider a 10 million to
one chance better odds than a ZERO chance. Many will gamble what little
resources they have in hopes of “striking it rich.” Some will spend the
money needed to support their families, lose that in gambling, and then
in desperation spend more to try to win that lost money back.
Some point out that gambling is in the Bible; in the form of casting
lots. The Hebrew word for “lot” is pronounced, “go-rawl' and means a
pebble or a small stone. In Bible times the Go-rawl or the lots were
used like dice, today. The legitimate use of casting lots by the people
of God is NOT the same thing as gambling. Gambling is seeking to gain by
chance a material advantage over someone. The biblical practice of
casting lots was not for one person to gain an advantage over another.
In fact, it was the very opposite. It was to remove human advantage
(influence, strength, intelligence) out of the decision making process
and provide the opportunity for God to render His decision. Casting lots
was used to divide the Promised Land among the tribes after they had
conquered Canaan (Numbers 33:54). Amid the deadly storm at sea in the
story of Jonah and the big fish, the people aboard cast lots to decide
who had angered God causing the storm (Jonah 1).
After Pentecost, casting lots disappears as a practice of God’s people.
Why … because God’s people now had the Holy Spirit to teach them and
guide them.
God has ordained for all humans in Genesis 3:19, “By the sweat of your
brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground.” God is not
saying that people ought only to do hard physical labor. God is saying
that humans are to work for what they receive. We are not talking about
salvation. There is no way we can work for salvation, it is God’s gift.
But in our human relationships, when we want something that another
person has and is willing to relinquish, then we should exchange
something that belongs to us and of equal value. Both sides go away
satisfied. In gambling only the winner is happy.
Gambling is a subtle form of covetousness. Exodus reads 20:17, “Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor's house … wife … manservant … ox … ass, nor
any thing that is thy neighbor's.” The English word “covet” is in Hebrew
“khaw-mad” which means to “lust after” and “to have a compelling desire
for”. Reason tells us that this law is not talking about the legitimate
kind of want or desire we have that leads us to purchase or trade
something. Thieves covet what they steal (another of the Ten
Commandments) before they ever steal it. Covetousness is the thief’s
sinful desire without the actual act of robbery. Gamblers have the same
covetousness of a thief; they desire to have what belongs to the other
gambler, to get it for nothing and to leave the previous owner with the
loss.
The commonwealth may successfully legislate to legalize gambling but
their legislation will not have any affect on the gambler’s sinful
attitude; his or her desire to get something for nothing and leave a
host of losers in the wake. Romans 14:22-23 reads, “Blessed is the man
who does not condemn himself by what he approves…everything that does
not come from (Bible-Centered) faith is sin.”