Confession and Assurance (January 16th, 2022)

The second sermon in the "‘Liturgy for Life’ series.

Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:5-2:2

Confession | Why should we spend time regularly confessing our sins as a part of our Sunday liturgy? and as part of our personal liturgies? John gives us three reasons: 

1. We confess our sins whenever we truly recognize and acknowledge who God is. There is a biblical logic to our regular order of worship. Tt goes like this - when we recognize and acknowledge who God is in his holiness, glory and greatness (which is what the call to worship is calling us to do), we recognize and acknowledge v5“God is light and there is absolutely no darkness in him.” When this happens we recognize and acknowledge all the ways we have sinned and fall short of the glory and holiness of God. This pattern is repeated throughout Scripture when anyone gets even a glimpse of God’s glory. 

2. We confess our sins because it’s the truth. Light is an image of God’s pure moral holiness. Light is also an image of how fellowship with God reveals what is true and exposes deception, lies and things that are in the dark. When we encountered God, light is shone on things we want to hide or that are hidden to us until He shows us. “Walking in darkness” in this passage doesn’t mean not having any sin or never sinning - it means living in a way where we don’t see or admit our sin.  The word confess simply means “to say the same thing”. Confession is telling the truth about our sin; it’s bringing it to the light. 

3. We confess our sins, so that we have fellowship with one another. v7 states something surprising. Confession gives us fellowship with one another. How? Confession of the truth of who we are before the glory and holiness of God enables us to be ourselves as we are with one another. Our pride is cut down. We don’t see ourselves as above others but as sinners in equally in need of a Savior. Here is the starting point for true relationship. The masks come off. Judgment, competition and suspicion can be left behind. We give others the grace we know we so desperately need ourselves. 

Assurance | Confession is just one side of a two-sided coin. Every time our liturgy includes confession, we always follow that confession with “words of assurance”. Why? Here are 3 reasons from the text:

1. We need assurance because confession without assurance is a misrepresentation of the gospel. Assurance without confession is self-deceit (ie not living in the light) but confession without assurance is self-condemnation. It is not living in the truth of verse 9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. Amazingly, John doesn’t say if we confess our sins, He is gracious and merciful to forgive us. Here’s what he is saying - If Jesus has already taken the judgment and condemnation our sins deserve (see 2:2), God cannot and will not condemn us, judge us or punish us for the sins Jesus has already died for! To do so would make him a liar and unjust! Thus, to call for confession and not give assurance is to misrepresent God and the gospel of Jesus.  

2. We need assurance of forgiveness, because we can’t give it to ourselves.  Many of us try to be our own advocate when we sin or fail. We tell ourselves, “it’s ok, everyone makes mistakes, we are all sinners, right?” etc. This may help us to move on but it doesn’t give us any of the liberation and joy of real assurance. John tells us we need an advocate outside our ourselves – and that is who Jesus is. He speaks for us and to us reminding us that He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He is sufficient to cover, cleanse and forgive all our sins – none of our groveling, attempts to atone or punish ourselves are needed. 

3. We receive assurance so that we may not sin.  Does constant assurance of forgiveness time and time again lead us to not to use it as a “free pass” to sin? It will for those who don’t really confess and don’t really understand the promise of assurance.  If we see and confess sin for what it is –what breaks our fellowship with God and others, what leaves me alone in the dark, in lies and self deceit AND we see Jesus for who He is – the One who took what my sins deserve, so that we have what he deserves – a 100% unbreakable assurance that God, the Father loves us, approves of us, delights in us and is committed to our ultimate and greatest good… if that is what we taste in confession and assurance, why would we turn back to sin? The rhythm of confession and assurance leads us into a turning away from sin and its dead-end emptiness and a turning to Jesus in his loving fellowship. In this is the power for change – week after week and day after day.

Reflect or Discuss

1. What about this sermon most impacted you or left you with questions? How do experience our weekly time of confession and assurance? 

2. “To not make time for confession on Sundays is like saying we don’t expect to really meet God in his holiness, glory and greatness” Do you agree? How does the pattern in Scripture of people meeting God support this statement? 

3. If confession is telling the truth about our sin, why is this important for us to do regularly? Why can’t we just do it alone? 

4. Have you seen how confession actually strengthens your fellowship with someone? How so?

5. It was said Christians need to practice “non-selective” confession. ie confession of all the bible calls sin.  Do you agree that we avoid confessing sins that may “score a point” for those who see on the “other side” or “opposing side” of disagreements?

6. Do you struggle more with assurance without confession? How do we know when our confession is more for us and not for God? Or do you struggle more with confession without assurance? How is not accepting assurance a way of trying to be our own Savior?

7. Why is it not enough for us to tell ourselves we are forgiven (ie being our own advocate)? How does knowing Jesus is your advocate help us not wallow in guilt or despair? 

8. Describe how the regular practice of confession and assurance can lead us not to sin.

Your Daily Liturgy 

In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy”, “I go with the flow, “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

1. How can confession and assurance become a regular part of your daily liturgy? 

2. Why would it be important for you to include this as a regular personal habit?

3. How might it make a difference for how you experience challenges and failures of each day? 

Some ideas include – nightly prayer of examen, daily time in the “C” of A.C.T.S. based on the passage of scripture, developing the habit of confessing your specific sins vs blanket prayers of confession, the practice of having “short accounts” with those close to you – confessing sin, no matter how small, as quick as possible, from a genuine heart. 

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the full sermon on YouTube.

The Call to Worship (January 9th, 2022)

The first sermon in the ‘Liturgy for Life’ series.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 95

Introduction: Our teaching series to begin 2022 is called, “Liturgy for Life”. To understand the heart and goal of the series, we need to know what is meant be the word “liturgy”. It comes from a Greek word that meant, “a work of the people; a public work or service”. It came to be used to describe what Christians did when they gathered together publicly for worship. We use the word today to describe the order or pattern of the public worship service of a church. From this definition, we can make two key observations:  

1. Every church has a liturgy. Some are elaborate, some are simple, but every church has a regular order/pattern to their worship. A church’s service order or liturgy will be shaped by what they believe about God and how to best lead people to worship Him.  

2. Every person also has a liturgy. If we understand a liturgy to be an order or pattern built around what we worship, in this sense every person has a liturgy for life. We all have regular structures, patterns, habits that are ultimately built around what we worship, value and consider most important. 

Our series will focus on 1) why we do what we do on Sundays at Trinity; how each part of our worship service shaped by the story of the gospel and the role each part of the liturgy can have in our formation and 2) how what we do on Sunday is meant to be a pattern and a model for our own daily personal liturgies.

1. The Reason We Are Here | Our services begin with “the call to worship”. As the first part of our service every week, the call to worship reminds us of the reason we are gathered together - to worship God. There are a lot of other reasons the bible gives for why we gather together, but Psalm 95 and other passages tell us that there is a reason that is primary. There is a reason that comes first. All the other reasons flow from it. 

We do not gather first and foremost to follow rules or enforce rules/a moral code; not to ask God for what we want; not to learn new things about God; not to get direction from God; not to change our lives for the better; not feel inspired/better, not even to serve each other. Our first/primary purpose when we gather together is to worship God. In fact, if those other things are done without worship, they will actually lead us away from God, not to Him. 

Verses 3 and 7 of Psalm 95 help us arrive at a simple definition of worship - Worship is recognizing and acknowledging who God is (v3 For is a great God; v7 For He is our God). Worship is recognizing and acknowledging the supreme worth, value, glory, importance, weight and greatness of who God is and how this is revealed in what he has done, is doing and will do in Christ. So, the call to worship is the ultimate reality check. Being called to worship is  being called to recognize and acknowledge the most fundamental, basic and essential reality – who God is. 

The call to worship not only reminds of the reason we gather as the church, it reminds us of the reason we are here at the most foundational level. It reminds us why we exist. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism begins its summary of the Christian faith, What is the chief (highest, primary and first) end (or purpose) of humanity? To glorify and enjoy God forever. Worship is not just the beginning, it is our end. A regular call to worship reminds us - God is not a means to an end, He is the end (the highest goal) of our lives. 

2. The Way We Proceed | The call to worship doesn’t only begin our services or begin our daily liturgies, it provides us with the way we proceed into everything else we do. If we proceed into the rest of our Sunday gathering apart from a posture or attitude of worship, the rest of the service becomes lifeless and loses its power. Confession is shallow. Assurance is bland. Singing is ok – if the music is good. The sermon is more about the preacher than than “Today, if you hear HIS voice” (v7b), the benediction is just a way to say, “it’s over”. But in the presence of the God who is – as we recognize and acknowledge his sovereignty, glory, greatness, grace, mercy and compassion – every other part of the service is given a holy power. 

We need to be called back to the reason God gathers us, to be called back to the reason why He made us - because we so often forget. We lose sight of who God is – our desires and problems become our greatest reality. Our desires can only be rightly directed and ordered; our problems only addressed when He becomes our greatest reality. It is then that our confession, the assurance of pardon, the songs we sing, the Word we hear, the bread and wine we take, the benediction we receive become invigorated and energized with the presence and power of God. 

2. Why We Need It Every day  | Verse 7 is a transition in the Psalm. In what seems like such an abrupt turn, we see how the call to worship is brought into the everyday. Psalm 95 is not just a liturgy for a gathered community in a worship service; it is a liturgy for “today”. Here is the thing we all must realize - every day we are called to worship; to give something the place of central value, importance and worthiness in our lives. If we don’t hear the voice of God calling us to worship every day and respond to Him, we will hear the voice of something calling us to worship and respond to it. 

The lesson of Psa. 95:7-11 is that for Israel in the wilderness, the reality of God had little to no impact on their daily challenges, tests and trails. They worshipped him in the big moments (ie the Red Sea) but forget him in their daily struggles. When confronted with a test, they doubted God was really with them and were ready to return back to the gods of Egypt. Our hearts are not any different. Without regular rhythm of remembering who God is and adoring and praising Him, we turn to other “gods” to save us, provide what we need.  

The Psalm invites us to remember the rest of this story. Instead of striking the people in judgment, God told Moses to strike the rock and out of the rock flowed life-giving water for a sinful and forgetful people. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, we are told “the rock was Christ”. The rock was foreshadowing of Jesus. Here is how God softens the heart that hard and cold to who he is - Every other “god” that call us to worship, says “if you sacrifice for me and give me what I deserve, I’ll give you what you deserve”.  Only Jesus, the rock that was struck in our place says, “I sacrificed myself for you, I took what you deserve, so you can have what I deserve”. 

Reflect or Discuss

1. What about this sermon most impacted you or left you with questions? How do experience our weekly call to worship? Be honest! How might it become more meaningful for you? 

2. What difference might it make for you to remember the primary reason for a weekly worship service is worship? How might this impact the way you experience the rest of the service? 

3. We can sometimes see a weekly or daily call to worship as vaguely spiritual but not practical. Consider the following list of examples of meditating on the reality of who God is for common struggles:

• Fear – the Lord is my helper I will not be afraid what can man do to me?

• Discontent – the Lord is my Shepherd, I lack no good thing.

• Troubled – The Lord is a refuge in times of trouble.

• Weary - Do you not know? Have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God he will not grow tired or weary

• Uncertainty - The Lord is King forever and ever

• Inner wound, hurt – The Lord is near the brokenhearted, he saves those who are crushed in spirit. 

What is currently your greatest personal challenge? How might God meditating and adoring God for who He is practically address this challenge? Find a passage of scripture or attribute/action of God that speaks to this challenge. If discussing as a group, have the group help.

Your Daily Liturgy 

In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy”, “I go with the flow, “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

1. How can a call to worship become a regular part of your daily liturgy? 

2. Why would it be important to include this as a regular personal habit?

3. How might it make a difference for how you experience the challenges of each day? 

Some ideas include – finding simple calls to worship in Scripture to meditate on in the morning, using historic tools or prayer books, going outside to be in the stillness of creation and meditating on who God is, listening to a worship song focused on the adoration of God…. 

Also consider giving focused attention to the “A” in the A.C.T.S. method of meditating on Scripture (as we encourage in using our bible reading tool, CBR)

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the sermon on YouTube.

Wisdom for Our Emotions (November 21st, 2021)

Navigating our Inner World: Proverbs has a lot to say about our relationship with the external world. As we have seen in our study, the wise person is a champion of making peace in relationships, communication, conflict, and other realms of the external world. But where does all this come from? A key and vital part of getting this wisdom and becoming a champion of peace is understanding our emotions in the inner world. Our emotional life has more attention than ever today, but there is still so much struggle and confusion. Proverbs – though written thousands of years ago – has powerful wisdom for understanding our emotional life.

1. The Validity of Our Emotions

No proverb tells us to avoid difficult emotions, that the righteous are never anxious, or that depression is a sign of disobedience to God. What we read is quite the opposite. Proverbs validates our emotions as a core part of humanity alongside our rationality and our will. We see colorful expressions like crushed, rotten, heartsick, strengthening bones, and the tree of life to describe a variety of emotional categories experienced by people walking in wisdom.

• Prov 4:23 - “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”

• Prov 18:14 - “A person’s spirit can endure sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?”

In Proverbs, we see the heart as the primary place where emotions are experienced. In Hebrew, the heart is the core of a person – where our emotions, reason, and will all interact together. This means that our emotions are not a lesser part of us or on a lower plane as if our thinking and actions were more trustworthy and pure. To ignore our emotions is to ignore our humanity. Wisdom requires that we validate our own emotions and the emotions of others as an essential part of reality.

2. The Complexity of Our Emotions

Even though it was written thousands of years ago, Proverbs doesn’t take a simplistic or reductionistic approach to emotions. Instead, it offers us a nuanced, complex, and true-to-life portrayal of our emotions:

• Prov 14:10 - “The heart knows its own bitterness, and no outsider shares in its joy.”

• Prov 20:5 - “Counsel in a person’s heart is deep water; but a person of understanding draws it out.”

These proverbs point to the complex and inward nature of our emotions that is not perceptible to others. This means that we need to learn how to identify and express our emotions that are beneath the surface. The picture of a wise person here is able to navigate their emotions and help draw wisdom out of the “deep water” in others. To draw out emotions involves dealing with extremes like bitterness and joy and understanding when something may be lingering beneath the surface that is not always as clear.

• Prov 14:13 - “Even in laughter a heart may be sad, and joy may end in grief.”

• Prov 25:20 - “Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.”

• Prov 15:1 - “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.”

One application here is that we may not be able to discern what is going on beneath the surface in others, so we must approach this complexity with gentleness and care. Biblical wisdom calls us not to seek a simple solution for difficult emotions. There are two ways we can err in this regard. One is to give a wrong diagnosis. Another is to apply the wrong cure. In these ways, it is possible to pour vinegar on someone’s wounds, which only causes more pain. Imagine if you had a heavy heart, and someone just told you to pray more fervently. By contrast, a wise tongue is a gentle tongue because wisdom recognizes a whole-person approach to the complexity of emotions.

3. The Intensity of Our Emotions

• Prov 25:28 - “A person without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”

• Prov 18:14 - “A person’s spirit can endure sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?”

The Proverbs remind us that emotions are part of the heart, but they are not meant to rule the heart without bounds. The wise person is called to feel emotions and validate them, but not be ruled by them. This can be difficult because emotions vary in intensity. Our inner life can carry us through physical pain, but we can’t will ourselves out of a broken spirit because we often depend on the resources from within to influence what is outside of us. Self-help strategies might scratch the surface, but they are not ultimately enough to revive a broken spirit.

• Prov 14:30 - “A tranquil heart is life to the body, but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.”

• Prov 17:22 - “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”

There is a powerful image in Proverbs related to our emotions, and it centers on the concept of the bones – it’s like we have an inner emotional skeleton. Observe in these proverbs the impact that emotions can have on the “bones” for better or for worse. Our bones are what hold us together, keep us moving through life, and uplift us when we lack strength. This metaphor illustrates the intensity and power of our emotions – when our inner world is strong, we can move out in strength; we feel like we can do anything! But when our inner world is rotten or dried up, we move out into the world fragile and brittle; we feel like we can’t do anything! What can help us navigate such powerful realities?

4. The Healing of Our Emotions

Proverbs gives us two powerful insights for the healing of our emotions:

1) Look to your hope

• Prov 13:12 - “Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

Our hope is what we look to when we want to be happy or fulfilled. What you place your hope in ultimately sets the tone for your emotions. Some relevant examples might be your success, wealth, influence, or you’re your children. Consider how you feel when your hope gets delayed and how your emotions fluctuate. If you want to get to the “control center” of your emotions – look to your hope. When you have the thing you hope for, you feel whole and alive. When you don’t get it, you feel heartsick. In a broken world, all hopes will eventually be delayed or disappointed. This is where the tree of life comes in.

The tree of life is only described in the Bible in the books of Genesis, Revelation, and Proverbs. Underneath every difficult or hard emotion is a good desire or hope that points back to the tree of life in Genesis and forward to the new creation in Revelation. The tree of life in Genesis stands for the emotional wholeness we were made to have but lost. The tree of life in Revelation means emotional healing, desires fulfilled and tears wiped away. How do we get back to the tree of life? The Bible says it took another tree. Jesus makes a way back to the tree of life by experiencing the tree of death in our place (see Galatians 3:13 and 1 Peter 2:24). In other words, Jesus experienced the complete emotional breaking of his spirit, the drying up of his bones, and the sickness of his heart to make a way back to the tree of life.

2) Let the good news in

• Prov 15:30 - “Bright eyes cheer the heart; good news strengthens the bones.”

This proverb speaks to the power of something outside of us, someone else’s bright eyes or good news they bring, to get inside and strengthen us at the core. We cannot heal our own broken spirits or push out our bad emotions from within ourselves. But good news can get into our bones to give us an emotional skeleton. We won’t disintegrate or fall completely apart even when we are broken. Please hear this: it is not that believing the gospel shields us against emotional struggle or even intense despair. If Jesus experienced grief, pain, suffering, and sadness, how much more will we all? Nevertheless, we are connected us to a larger story, one where death ends in resurrection, darkness in light, and despair in hope. This is our hope. This is the good news.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What are some ways in which your inner world of emotions are hard to manage or understand?

2. Consider this quote from Allender and Longman (Cry of the Soul) : “Ignoring our emotions is turning our back on reality; listening to our emotions ushers us into reality, and reality is where we meet God.” In what ways have you been tempted to ignore your emotions? What are some ways that this can impact you and others?

3. Do you think it’s more difficult to validate your own emotions or the emotions of another? Why do you think this might be?

4. How are we sometimes tempted to offer simple answers or “solutions” to complex emotional realities? How can this do more harm than good?

5. Can you think of a time where someone wrongly diagnosed your emotions or attempted to provide the wrong solution to your problem? What does it mean to take a whole-person approach to someone else’s problems?

6. The Proverbs use the image of our “bones” to describe how our emotions can hold us up and help us move out into the world or weigh us down and immobilize us. How

7. What happens when we give into the intensity of our emotions? Should we avoid intense emotions altogether? How can we exhibit self-control without being dishonest about our feelings?

8. How does Proverbs tell us we can find healing for damaged or wounded spirit? How does Prov. 13:12 help us get to the source/root of our emotional wounds and hurts? If the Bible doesn’t offer us a way to avoid emotional wounds and pain in this life, what does it offer us?

9. How does Prov. 15:30 tell us we can find strength even in the disappointments/pain of life? How does knowing there is good news outside of my inner world (ie a larger story my story is a part of) help strengthen our inner world?

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the sermon of YouTube.

Wisdom for Making Plans (November 14th, 2021)

Introduction: We have more access to information and knowledge than ever before, but we are still so confused, conflicted, and divided. What must we do? The book of Proverbs teaches us that wisdom is the missing piece of the puzzle, the lost treasure of our time. We must rediscover it, ourselves and as a church, if we are to stand firm in a world drowning in information but lacking in wisdom. This Fall, let’s come together to “get wisdom” and allow it to reorient our lives, our families, and our communities.

The Difficulty of Planning: Proverbs has a lot to say about planning in the context of God’s plans. To pursue a path of wisdom requires understanding that things don’t automatically work out the way we planned even with our best planning. This reality was made apparent to all of us during the Covid-19 pandemic that changed the world and all of our plans as a result. There is not a single person alive whose plans did not radically change, which should humble us in many ways. Regardless of what life brings, wisdom calls us not to abandon planning but to plan our best and then place our ultimate hope in a sovereign God whose plans are greater than our own. As we reorient ourselves and our families to planning, we can learn from the Proverbs to help us navigate the difficulty and anxiety of planning.

1. Make Your Plans

The book of Proverbs teaches us very clearly - make plans. If you want anything good to happen in your life, you cannot leave it to happen by accident! What does it teach us about what kind of plans to make?

• Prov 14:22 - “Don’t those who plan evil go astray? But those who plan good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.”

•  Prov 12:20 - “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.”

• Prov 21:5 - “The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit, but all those who hurry end up with loss.”

• Prov 19:2 - “Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.”

The clear teaching of these proverbs taken together is that meeting God and experiencing his steadfast love, finding joy, making a profit, and having success all come from planning well. Planning encourages us not to live haphazardly or just go with the flow, as tempting as that may be. The Hebrew word for planning includes counting, calculating, thinking, and devising. The planning process takes time and patience as we consider various factors and careful steps to reach our goals. It is no surprise then that those who constantly hurry or make hasty plans are the antithesis of wise planning.

• Prov 24:27 - “Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field; afterward, build your house.”

We should not be discouraged by the concept of planning because it is not as overwhelming as we think. This proverb reminds us that even a little planning can often yield great results. The wise sage tells us not to get lost on the final step (building the house) but to consider what work is accessible (outdoor work and preparing the field) in the context of the process. If we take some time to make our plans, we might be shocked at how quickly we arrive at the next step. This is especially important in the context of our spiritual formation. How many of us get lost in our planning for life, and we completely forget about God? Do you have a plan for how you want to grow spiritually, develop your character, or bless others in neighborly love? We should not expect short bursts of inspiration to sustain our spiritual lives any more than neglecting planning to help us arrive at our earthly goals.

2. Don’t Trust your Plans

The Proverbs teach us very clearly to make plans but that we should not completely trust in our plans. This might sound like a contradiction, but it is a realistic lesson for us as created beings with limited knowledge and insight into the future. Let’s dig a little deeper to understand:

• Prov 12:15 - “A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.”

• Prov 15:22 - “Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

These proverbs tell us that if a plan is only right in your own eyes, you have neglected some components of wise planning. Have you ever thought through a project or a plan only to realize that when you shared it with someone else, you realized something that you missed? Wise planning involves seeking wisdom in the counsel of others you trust so that you gain a better perspective on the goal of your plans. Even the fool makes plans, but his plans are not associated with wisdom because they forsake counsel.

• Prov 11:3 - “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the treacherous destroys them.”

• Prov 12:5 - “The plans of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.”

• Prov 16:2 - “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.”

Planning does not come from nothing. Planning emerges from our character, and our character is more limited than we often think. These proverbs remind us to keep an eye toward the spirit or motives of our planning. Wise counsel is important not only for the details of your plan but helping you weigh parts of your character that have gone into your planning.

• Prov 27:1 - “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

• Prov 16:25 - “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.”

The hardest lesson for many of us from the Covid-19 pandemic is that even if we apply all the elements of wise planning, we are still too limited to see what tomorrow will bring. A perennial truth of the human condition is that not only do we not know what a day will bring, but that we cannot know what a day may bring. This is why many elaborate institutional plans include contingencies should something unexpected occur. Similarly, the military always considers likely or dangerous possible outcomes in the accomplishment of a mission. What seems right to us could lead to death! This reality calls our attention not to place our ultimate trust in our plans, but in Someone beyond our plans.

3. Trust God’s Plans

• Prov 16:1 - “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.”

• Prov 16:4 - “The LORD works out everything to its proper end-even the wicked for a day of disaster.”

• Prov 20:24 - “A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?”

The Proverbs point to a powerful theological conclusion that resounds across the whole Bible: God has a plan that is absolutely comprehensive and unassailable. His plan ultimately transcends our own plans, but it also pervades our plans, even to the very minuscule details. This is difficult to wrap our minds around, but that never means we should give up.

• Prov 16:9 - “A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.”

• Prov 19:21 - “Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the LORD’s decree will prevail.”

The Bible teaches that the relationship between God’s plans and our plans is compatible. Theologians call this concept compatibilism. This teaches us that there is a mysterious union between the truth that God’s plans encompass whatever comes to pass and the truth that our plans are necessary for us to have joy, achieve our goals, and live in His faithful love. What we find is a paradoxical comfort that enables us to consider our plans but not to be overwhelmed or controlled by the outworking of our plans.

• Prov 21:30 - “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”

• Acts 2:23-24 - “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

The good news is that no human plan can succeed against the Lord. The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon says, “when you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head.” What we find in Jesus Christ is that even the worst schemes developed by humanity can be redeemed as part of God’s plan for joy, hope, and salvation. Though the hands of lawless men killed him, it was the Lord’s will to raise him up in glory. We trust that the Lord reveals his plan to us generally in the Scriptures but that He withholds many specifics because they would hinder us, distract us, and overwhelm us.

4. Commit Your Plans

• Prov 16:3 - “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

We are encouraged to commit our plans to the Lord because He alone can establish the future. The word for “commit” here means literally to “roll onto.” This does not mean that we merely tell God about our plans or ask him to bless them, but the opposite. We “roll” our plans onto God as the firm foundation for everything we do and hope for, knowing that He will establish us regardless of the outcome. If our plans do not succeed, then we still have solid ground beneath us, and from this foundation, we can pray, seek wisdom, and respond with hope. A loving parent would tell a young child not to worry about things they can’t comprehend but to trust them even in the most difficult times. Similarly, God is our firmest foundation for planning and simultaneously the gentlest comfort for our souls.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What is one instance you can recall about the difficulty of planning in the past year? How did you adapt your approach to planning?

2. Are you more of a planner or a go-with-the-flow kind of person? What are some strengths and weaknesses of both approaches?

3. Why do we sometimes make detailed plans for some things in life (education, career) but fail to make plans for our spiritual formation and growth?

4. What reasons from this lesson stick out most to you as to why we should not trust our plans? Which of the limits do you most struggle with?

5. Do you struggle with how to make sense of the compatibility between the sovereignty of God’s plans and the necessity of your own planning? How can we find comfort in the truth that these things are compatible – even when we don’t understand how?

6. In the sermon in was mentioned that it can be hard for us that God doesn’t show “his work” (ie how his specific plans for us result in his ultimate plan for us). Is this difficult for you? How?

7. Where is it most difficult for you - right now – to roll what your plans and hopes onto the Lord?

8. How does the gospel help us trust that God can bring good even out of the worst of our human plans? How does this encourage you?

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the sermon on YouTube.

Wisdom for Listening (November 7th, 2021)

Introduction: We have more access to information and knowledge than ever before, but we are still so confused, conflicted, and divided. What must we do? The book of Proverbs teaches us that wisdom is the missing piece of the puzzle, the lost treasure of our time. We must rediscover it, ourselves and as a church, if we are to stand firm in a world drowning in information but lacking in wisdom. This Fall, let’s come together to “get wisdom” and allow it to reorient our lives, our families, and our communities.

A Wise Person is a Listening Person: Have you ever tried to learn a new language? It is incredibly difficult because it is not something you can merely study or memorize. You have to immerse yourself and engage with real people who speak the language, which requires listening. In this way, learning wisdom is similar to learning a language. We cannot become truly wise without listening. Growing in wisdom requires us to humble ourselves and submit to God and others by being willing to learn their perspectives. This can be difficult, like learning a new language, because it requires us to re-evaluate our preconceived notions about wisdom and be willing to change our mindset.

• Prov 1:5-7 - “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance— for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

The Proverbs confront our misconceptions about wisdom and how we can think about it from God’s perspective:

Our Misconceptions:

1. A wise person is already full of knowledge and understanding.

2. A wise person is self-sufficient and does not need to learn from others.

3. A wise person knows all the right answers about living well.

God’s Way:

1. A wise person listens to increase their knowledge and understanding.

2. A wise person is willing to learn from God and others.

3. A wise person knows that only God has all the right answers about living well.

1. What Listening Is

Listening is not merely about processing auditory sounds. It includes paying full attention to someone when they are in your presence. This is why people who are hard of hearing can still listen exceptionally well, or why we can tell when someone we are texting just isn’t listening. Listening is not about hearing as much as it is about the heart behind the hearing.

• Prov 4:1-2 - “Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching.”

In this proverb, we see the importance of listening as it relates to learning and paying attention as a means to gaining understanding. The imagery is essential here because it depicts a loving father speaking to a younger son. The father desires that the son would recognize not only that he needs to listen but that he would desire to listen in order to acquire wisdom for the path of life. The context for listening involves giving full attention because it requires the engagement of the senses, the mind, and the heart to instruction.

• Prov 18:13 - “To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.”

This proverb highlights the difference between passive and active listening and the importance for us to seek the latter. Every time we listen, we have the option to listen passively, only waiting for our opportunity to respond, or we can listen actively, which involves paying attention to another and welcoming their perspective. Henry Nouwen points out that “the beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking our words more seriously and discovering their true selves.

What does good active listening look like? Dr. Alan Godwin gives us some tips for how to listen well:

1. Ask Questions

2. Pause Before Speaking

3. Avoid Interrupting

4. Listen with your body language

5. Validate before responding

2. Why we Can’t Truly Listen

If you know anyone with a physical impediment, you know that no matter how much they want it to change, their bodies continue to act in the same way. Not only do our physical bodies have impediments, but our souls have them as well. As it turns out, all of us are born with a listening impediment that impacts our ability to listen to God and others. Before we consider the spiritual nature of our problem, let’s consider some of the symptoms. Dr. Henry Cloud has provided some helpful barriers that keep us from listening well:

1. “Me-first” mentality

2. Self-referencing when others share stories

3. Interrupting often

4. Negating before allowing them to elaborate

5. Devaluing, Minimizing, and Denying

The pattern in these barriers is apparent: our fallen nature causes us to filter everyone else out in favor of listening to ourselves. Rather unsurprisingly, our ability to listen is only an impediment to others, but never for ourselves. We love and cherish listening to ourselves, and many of these barriers highlight our attempt to magnify ourselves over others. This points us to our sinful nature (Rom 3:10-12).

It is tempting to think that God has not spoken, but perhaps the problem is with us? Though we cannot and do not listen, we have a God who is always speaking to us and desires our response. He speaks to us especially in his Word, and we find that it is powerful and life-giving. His voice is also always active in the world, moving the trees, bringing the sun and rain, and piercing our consciousness at various times. C.S. Lewis emphasizes a similar point in saying, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” There are moments in life in which we must actively listen for God, and what we find is that he can heal our listening impediment and teach us how to listen to others.

3. God is the Greatest Listener

When we come to realize the patience and kindness God has acted toward us despite our inability to listen, then we will recognize how great of a listener he is. God has every right not to listen to us, but he chooses to. We can see this in the description of the Fall. When Adam and Eve sinned, God came to listen to their account. “Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9). God called them because he wanted to know them and he wanted to know them by listening to them. In the same way, God pursues us, listens to us, covers us with the blood of Christ, and beckons that we continue to share our full and honest hearts with Him. We might still be tempted to resist or hide from God because of our sin, but He desires to listen to us all the more.

• Hebrews 3:13-15 - You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

This warning is relevant to us because we are constantly tempted to harden our hearts to His voice that reminds us that we are free to come to Him. We might turn away from God thinking that he does not listen to us, or we might not want to listen to Him ourselves. One anchor we can always return to is prayer. Prayer is an ongoing listening relationship between God and us based upon what Christ has done for us. He listens to us as we present our requests to Him and seek to align our will with His. We listen to Him as he imparts his heart to us, his wisdom for how to live, and his consolation from our pains and struggles.

• John 13:34-35 - So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

God listens to us in a way that cannot be contained. When we come before Him, he fills us up with himself so that we can listen to others as an extension of Himself to them. In our listening, we can help others see the love of God that he displays to us in listening. This is embedded in the commandment that Jesus gives us because loving well means that we listen well. And if we want the world to recognize the love that Jesus has for us, how can we do that without listening?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. How would you describe the relationship between wisdom and listening? Can you think of a person who does this well?

2. What misconceptions have you seen or experienced lived in our culture about wisdom? How does the Bible challenge us to think differently about wisdom?

3. How would you describe the difference between active and passive listening? Is passive listening always bad? Why or why not?

4. Which one of Dr. Godwin’s tips for listening well stands out to you? What are some ways you can improve at listening?

5. How does our unwillingness or struggle to listen to others relate to our fallen nature?

6. Which one of Dr. Cloud’s barriers to listening stands out to you? Would someone close to you agree with your answer?

7. Consider the quote by C.S. Lewis: “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Does this expand or challenge the way you think about how God speaks to us?

8. Have you considered that God desires to listen to you even when you feel guilty or ashamed? What temptation(s) makes you think that he will not listen to you? How does the Gospel speak to us here?

9. You might have heard the popular mantra: “Prayer is just talking to God.” What do you think about this? How can prayer be a form of listening to God?

10. How can listening to others display the love of God? What are some things you can do to help you listen in a more loving way?

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the sermon on YouTube.