Christmas Eve: Do You See What I See?

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Recognizing the True Light of the World: Jesus

John 1:9-10
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

Christmas helps us recognize who Jesus truly is.

Blind eyes and hard hearts keep people from seeing Jesus.

John 12:37, 40-4 (Message)
All these God-signs he had given them and they still didn’t get it, still wouldn’t trust him. This proved that the prophet Isaiah was right: Their eyes are blinded, their hearts are hardened, So that they wouldn’t see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts, And turn to me, God, so I could heal them.

John 12:42-46 (Message)
On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn’t come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God’s glory. Jesus summed it all up when he cried out, “Whoever believes in me, believes not just in me but in the One who sent me. Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won’t have to stay any longer in the dark.

Life in the dark is not God’s plan for us.

John 1:11-12
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

The “True Light” has come into our world, what will you do with Him?

Christmas Re-Gifted Week 4: Batteries Included

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

We have all we need to love like Jesus:

GRACE AND TRUTH

You might say that the whole book is summarized in the first 18 verses. Then you might say that the first 18 verses are summarized in verses 14 to 18. Then you might say that verse 14 summarizes verses 14 to 18.

John 1:14-15
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)

Jesus’ glory is divine and detectable.

Christ is full of grace and truth

He was expressing the reality of glory. And so when John says I beheld His glory, he's not only saying physically but he's saying I sensed it because I walked with Him for three years and I talked with Him and I sat with Him and I followed Him and I listened to Him and I prayed with Him and I loved Him and His glory splattered all over me because it was there and you couldn't stop it. And so John says though it was veiled it was visible, I beheld His glory.

John 11:40
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Jesus did not come to simply show us grace and truth
but to give them to us.

John 1:16-17
Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

God doesn't just want to stock your head with knowledge about his truth and grace, he wants you to receive it and experience it. This Christmas he wants to give you personally a foundation of truth and reality to stand on so you won't cave in under stress. This Christmas he wants to treat you with grace—to forgive all your sins—all of them!—to take away all your guilt, to make your conscience clean, to help you with your problems, to give you strength for each day, and to fill you with hope and joy and peace.

The Son is not simply full of grace; he has a fullness from which he shares with others (v. 16). The verse reads literally, "For from his fullness we all (have) received even grace upon grace."

If you're a believer you have the fullness of Christ.

Colossians 2:9-10
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

"All that is in Christ is in us."

When Christ came into your life He planted in you all that is God's. We don't lack anything...nothing. Except as James says the wisdom to know what we've got. It's all there, all the fullness of Christ is mine. Do you know what that says? That says because Christ is in me my resources are inexhaustible. There's no reason for a Christian to feel inadequate. It's all yours.

Jesus gives us AA power to energize our life…

1. Amazing Grace
2. Absolute Truth

grace answers to the hesed of the Old Testament: God's covenant-keeping, gracious love.
Truth answers to 'emet, God's covenant-keeping, faithful reliability in which there is nothing false or deceitful.

So there is a contrast here, but it is one of degree. The grace received in Jesus is added upon the grace that came through Moses and the law. There is a greater fulfillment of this picture, for the law itself points to Jesus (5:39). The law points to the revelation. We have received grace and truth, John 1:17. He had said (John 1:14) that Christ was full of grace and truth; now here he says that by him grace and truth came to us. grace:—Its preference above the law of Moses: The law was given by Moses, and it was a glorious discovery, both of God’s will concerning man and his good will to man; but the gospel of Christ is a much clearer discovery both of duty and happiness.

He is the true paschal lamb, the true scape-goat, the true manna. They had grace in the picture; we have grace in the person, that is, grace and truth. The law was only made known by Moses, but the being of this grace and truth, as well as the discovery of them, is Jesus Christ.

The law was a witness to grace and truth. Jesus was the fulfillment not the contradiction of the law of Moses.

And then he adds, and I love this at the end of verse 16, he says, "And grace for grace." You know what that is? Grace in the place of grace. When grace goes grace comes, it's just like this...it's like the waves on the ocean, one wave rolls in and right away comes another one, more grace and more grace. And if you don't recognize it, that's not God's fault, it's not that the grace isn't there, it's that you would rather court your misery than express it in grace.

And so, the whole testimony of believers come together and say, "I know Christ is God, I have His fullness." And then he draws a closing contrast in verses 17 and it's very simple. He says, "For the law was given by Moses," and he just reiterates the truth of verse 14, "But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Moses gave the law, went up in Sinai and God carved it out on the mountain with His finger of fire. Moses put the two tables of stone under his arm, called the tables a testimony, marched down off the mountain, brought the law. Everybody was put under law, obey the law or else

So the law was given by Moses and all the law could do was show you how rotten you were, it couldn't save you. The law just showed us how bad we were, but grace and truth which provided salvation came in Jesus Christ.

“Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.” Tim Keller

Truth is far more than facts. It’s not just something we act upon. It acts upon us. We can’t change the truth, but the truth can change us. It sanctifies (sets us apart) from the falsehoods woven into our sin natures.

To know the truth is to see accurately. To believe what isn’t true is to be blind.

As followers of Christ, we are to walk in the truth (3 John 3), love the truth and believe the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10,12). We are to speak the truth, in contrast to “the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14). We’re to speak the truth “in love” (Ephesians 4:32). Christ’s disciples know the truth (John 8:32), do the truth (John 3:21), and abide in the truth (John 8:44). We are commanded to know the truth (1 Timothy 4:3), handle the truth accurately (2 Timothy 2:25) and avoid doctrinal untruths (2 Tim. 2:18). The “belt of truth” holds together our spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:14).

The universe is not a democracy. Truth is not a ballot measure.

Truth will set you free, but grace is the key to receiving the truth. Only by grace were we given the truth, the fullness of truth, Jesus.

“I can’t get past the idea that someone could live a selfish no-good life, and then repent on his death bed and go to heaven. It just sounds too easy, too cheap.”

I pointed out his underlying assumption, that we think we can earn God’s grace, and that going to heaven takes work on our part. We discussed that the hardest part about grace may be swallowing our pride and saying, “I don’t deserve this any more than that criminal on his deathbed deserves it.”

Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable about sinning is not biblical grace. Anyone who misuses grace as a license for violating God’s truth does not grasp the infinite price God paid for our redemption.

Only because God knows all my sins he could die for them all.

Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

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Christmas Re-Gifted Week 3: A Gift for the Kids

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Trusting Jesus gives us the right to be Children of God.

John 1:9-13
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Christmas Story - Jesus, the true light, came into our world.

A Hard Truth: Not everyone is a child of God.

We are made in His image, we are drawn to Him, and we have faith to come to him that he placed in us, but only a life giving spiritual birth places you in his eternal family. Not the outcome of a biological urge, or legal marriage. A spiritual Birth for a spiritual kingdom by a Spiritual/heavenly father.

Privilege of Being Born of God

1. Not of blood - i.e., by virtue of physical descent (Abraham our Father)
2. Not of flesh - i.e., by virtue of the lusts of the flesh (Biological urge or lust)
3. Not of the will of man - i.e., by virtue of power in a man's will alone (Legal)
4. But of God - i.e., a rebirth possible only by the Spirit of God

Between us and eternal life there are two great obstacles. One is that we are spiritually lifeless and dead. The other is that we are sinfully corrupt and guilty. We cannot inherit life as children of God if we are dead and if we are guilty. But God so loved us that he did two things.

He sent his Spirit to cause us to be born again, to quicken us and make us pass from death to life. And so he overcomes the first obstacle.

But in perfect harmony with the work of his Spirit God sent his Son to die for our sin (John 1:29) and remove the guilt of all who believe in him. So the moment we believe in him, even though we are sinners, we are authorized in him to lay hold on the inheritance of the children of God. And so the second obstacle is removed.

Receivers and believers have the right to become children of God.

Romans 8:14-17
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry,“Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Children of God receive Jesus and what he has to offer.

lambánō (from the primitive root, lab-, meaning "actively lay hold of to take or receive," see NAS dictionary) – properly, to lay hold by aggressively (actively) accepting what is available (offered). lambánō ("accept with initiative") emphasizes the volition (assertiveness) of the receiver.

When we recognize the light we grab it. We willfully welcome him into our lives.

John Piper:
Receiving Jesus means that when Jesus offers himself to you, you welcome him into your life for what he is.

If he comes to you as Savior, you welcome his salvation.

If he comes to you as Leader, you welcome his leadership.

If he comes to you as Provider, you welcome his provision.

If he comes to you as Counselor, you welcome his counsel.

If he comes to you as Protector, you welcome his protection.

If he comes to you as Authority, you welcome his authority.

If he comes to you as King, you welcome his rule.

Receiving Jesus means taking Jesus into your life for what he is. It does not mean a kind of peaceful co-existence with a Christ who makes no claims—as though he can stay in the house as long as he doesn't play his music so loud.

When Jesus preached in Nazareth in Luke 4:16 ., the people received him gladly. It says In Luke 4:22, "All spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth." But a few verses later it says in Luke 4:28 they were "filled with wrath" and tried to throw him down from a cliff. They were happy to receive him while his words were pleasing. But when their pride was fingered, they rejected him. Receiving Jesus does not mean a kind of peaceful co-existence with a Christ who makes no claims. Receiving Jesus means taking him into your life (your home, your school, your work, your marriage, your dreams) for who he really is.

Children of God believe Jesus is who he claimed.

pisteúō (from pístis, "faith," derived from peíthō, "persuade, be persuaded") believe (affirm, have confidence);

I am the bread of life - John 6: 35, 48

I am the light of the world - John 8: 12, 9:5

I am the door - John 10:9

I am the good shepherd - John 10:11

I am the resurrection and the life - John 11:25

I am the way, the truth, and the life - John 14:6

I am the true vine - John 15:1

Being a child of God is not a label but a lifestyle.

Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness

If not everyone is a child of God, am I?

Covenant Church Website

ThanksLiving part 1 - It Starts With The Heart

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Two Major Benefits of Living a Life of Thanks:

1. It is good for me.
2. It opens the door to God’s power in my life.

BENEFIT ONE: GOOD FOR ME

It turns out, giving thanks is good for your health.

A growing body of research suggests that maintaining an attitude of gratitude can improve psychological, emotional and physical well-being.

Thankfulness doesn’t equal happiness. You can be sad and thankful. Thankfulness can speak to spiritual maturity.

Psalm 69:30-32 (NAS)
I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs. The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek God, let your heart revive.

THANKS TO THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY

Revelation 11:15-17
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.

Overflow of Tanksgiving

2 Corinthians 4:15-16
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

BENEFIT TWO: Opens the door to God’s Power

Paul and Silas

Acts 16:25-26
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.”

Paul and Silas were free before they were free. Bars did not dash their thanks.

Thankfulness starts with the heart.

Give Thanks

1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

David believed God was good and that God loved him.

Idea of being thankful, grateful, honoring. It was a time of sincere thanks and it looked and felt that way.

Some know how to be sarcastic or cynical, others thrive on it and live in it constantly, That is a heart problem.

DARK AND CONFUSED

Romans 1:21 NLT
“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.”

Paul goes on to spell out what happens when we become indifferent to spiritual truth:

1. We refuse to glorify God.
2. We refuse to give thanks to God.

At this point it is helpful to recall Question 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism
“What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Truth demands a response, and the truth about God demands that we the creatures glorify him as the great Creator. When we don’t, we fail in the great purpose for which we were created. It didn’t start with us. It started in the dim mists of the earliest days of the human race when Adam and Eve willfully rebelled against God. They should have glorified God by obeying him, but they didn’t. That was and is the chief sin of the human race. From Eden to your hometown a bent toward disobedience has entered our spiritual genetic code.

Charles Spurgeon preached on this verse, he offered this comment:
I cannot say anything much worse of a man than that he is not thankful to those who have been his benefactors; and when you say that he is not thankful to God, you have said about the worst thing you can say of him.

Thankfulness…

1. Softens a hard heart
2. And combats a cynical world.

The poet Milton, the blind poet, he said that a person with an ungrateful spirit only has one vice, he said because all of the rest of his vices are virtues compared to ingratitude. Every other sin is a virtue compared to the sin of ingratitude.

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” ― Cicero

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” ― G.K. Chesterton

“When we learn to read the story of Jesus and see it as the story of the love of God, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves--that insight produces, again and again, a sense of astonished gratitude which is very near the heart of authentic Christian experience.” ― N.T. Wright

“Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation.” ― John Ortberg

Covenant Church Web Site

A Hurricane Called Me

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Running From the Lord

Jonah 1:1-3
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Coming Storms

We can blind ourselves of a coming storm.

Running creates Storms

Jonah 1:4-5
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

We cause Storms

Some storms of life are caused by our disobedience.

Idea that storm was a curse or payment for something done wrong.

A Storm was a tool of God and Only stops through obedience or death.

God Disciplines

Hebrews 12:5-11
And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Discipline for Good

God’s discipline is for our good and produces righteousness and peace.

Our storms

Storms meant for us affect those around us.

Our Storms
1. Cost more money (fare for Tarshish)
2. Affected others (ship in trouble)
3. Scared them with storm
4. Endangered them
5. Heaped guilt on them for doing what was necessary

The Storms End

When we deal with our disobedience the storm will end.

Recognize

When we recognize God’s movement in storms, our lives are changed.God was able to answer prayers and chastise his son/prophet at the same time.

Other’s Should not be punished because of you

Jonah 1:13-15
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

The 2 Keys for Dealing with Our Disobedience
1. Repentance - turning toward God
2. Obedience - walking with God

Humble Yourself and Pray

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

How Christ Fulfilled and Ended the Old Testament Regime

The glory of Jesus Christ shines more clearly when we see him in his proper relation to the Old Testament. He has a magnificent relation to all that was written. It is not surprising that this is the case, because he is called the Word of God incarnate (John 1:14). Would not the Word of God incarnate be the sum and consummation of the Word of God written? Consider these summary statements and the texts that support them.

1. All the Scriptures bear witness to Christ. Moses wrote about Christ. John 5:39, 46: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. . . . If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

2. All the Scriptures are about Jesus Christ, even where there is no explicit prediction. That is, there is a fullness of implication in all Scriptures that points to Christ and is satisfied only when he has come and done his work. “The meaning of all the Scriptures is unlocked by the death and resurrection of Jesus.” (Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, p. 54) Luke 24:27: And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

3. Jesus came to fulfill all that was written in the Law and the Prophets. All of it was pointing to him even where it is not explicitly prophetic. He accomplishes what the Law required. Matthew 5:17-18: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

4. All the promises of God in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That is, when you have Christ, sooner or later you will have both Christ himself and all else that God promised through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:20: For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

5. The law was kept perfectly by Christ. And all its penalties against God’s sinful people were poured out on Christ. Therefore, the law is now manifestly not the path to righteousness, Christ is. The ultimate goal of the law is that we would look to Christ, not law-keeping, for our righteousness. Romans 10:4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

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Used with permission By John Piper. ©2013 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org