“But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering” (Lev. 5:7).

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While sitting in the backyard this week, I was startled by a bird that flew into one of our windows before swooping down to a rough landing near my feet. It was a mourning dove and it looked stunned from its collision. As soon as he began to try to flutter away, it was apparent that he was not okay. I thought perhaps he had broken a wing in his accident. I watched as he moved several feet before he fell into a narrow hole where an upright 4×4 post had been removed on the property. Not wanting to leave him in there, I put on a pair of gloves and managed to pull him out again. Holding him for a minute, I couldn’t help but notice how small he was. There he was in my hands, tiny, helpless, and weighing just a few ounces. I left him in the yard overnight where he couldn’t fall into the hole again, and to my surprise, when I went out the next morning, he took flight and flew away into the trees, evidently recovered from his eventful night.

Reflecting on it later, I couldn’t help but think of the Old Testament sacrificial system, which prescribed the sacrifice of doves for certain sins and purification offerings. The act of taking a live dove up to the temple to offer as a sacrifice would have been a very tangible reminder that there must be a payment for sin. Offering a lamb or a dove would drive home the truth that if I am to be forgiven of my sins, payment must be made. Something else must take my place and bear the punishment for me in order for my sin to be atoned for. The sacrifices of the Old Testament served to teach the Israelites the truth that “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). But those sacrifices could not actually take away sins completely.

In order to completely pay for our sins and remove them forever, there had to be a much greater sacrifice—a representative for us, a perfect man, a willing sacrifice. And this is the beauty of the gospel, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a man and became a sacrifice for us. He was our representative, the perfect man, and a willing sacrifice. Without animal sacrifices to tangibly remind us of the cost of our sin, we are in danger of cheapening the cross. But his sacrifice was much greater than all the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. This Sunday let the communion be a reminder of the sacrifice that was made for you—a sacrifice much greater than that of doves.

On a recent trip to Chicago, I made a brief stop at the University of Chicago’s campus in order to visit their Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. I know that museums are not everyone’s cup of tea, but this one has an exhibit that is of great significance for Christians. The exhibit I am speaking of is a six-sided clay prism about 18 inches tall, commonly referred to as Sennacherib’s Prism. Inscribed on each side of this object are about 80 lines of miniscule writing. The writing on this artifact is a royal decree by the ancient Assyrian King Sennacherib in which he boastfully describes several of his military campaigns. If his name sounds familiar to you, that’s because we also read about Sennacherib in the Old Testament. Sennacherib’s prism is a well-preserved piece of history that confirms the reliability of the Old Testament. It provides corroboration that the events recorded in the Old Testament really did happen.

On the prism, Sennacherib recorded the following: “As for the king of Judah, Hezekiah, who had not submitted to my authority, I besieged and captured forty-six of his fortified cities, along with many smaller towns, taken in battle with my battering rams. … As for Hezekiah, I shut him up like a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem. I then constructed a series of fortresses around him, and I did not allow anyone to come out of the city gates.” (Column 3, Lines 18–30.) He also describes how he imposed a tribute upon King Hezekiah. Compare that with 2 Kings 18:13–17a: “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. … And the king of Assyria sent [his officials] with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.”

Sennacherib conveniently omitted the fact that although he confined Hezekiah in Jerusalem like a caged bird, he never managed to take the city. That’s because the Lord was fighting for Jerusalem and decimated the Assyrian army (2 Kings 19), leaving Sennacherib to limp home with his tail between his legs. While my faith in the reliability of the Bible does not rest on the archaeological record, it is confirming to see that time after time, the archeological evidence does support the Bible. Sennacherib’s Prism is one of many such pieces of evidence showing that the Bible is historically reliable. The prism is also a tangible reminder that the things we read about in the Bible really happened in real places to real people with real fears and hopes and dreams, just like you and me.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to visit church, this is it! Whether it would be your first time visiting a church or whether you already have lots of past experience with church, I want you to know that you are always welcome to join us for Bible class and Worship! I know that people have lots of different feelings and thoughts when they hear the word church. To some, it is a reminder of how people have failed them in the past. For others, it might bring to mind images of dusty cathedrals with stained-glass windows. Still others might be unsure of what church is even all about. I’d like to briefly share a few reflections on what makes the church so unique and why I think you should consider taking the time to learn more about the church and the message of Christianity.

First, in a world full of bad news, the church has good news. The good news is that because of Jesus Christ, our relationship with God can be restored and we can have hope. Second, in an age of isolation, the church has a place for you to belong. God created us for relationships—it’s part of what it means to be human! Although we are by no means perfect, the church becomes something like an extended family to belong to. Third, in contrast to the emptiness of the current secular worldview, the church has the solution to humanity’s greatest problem. Our greatest problem is that we have all committed moral crimes against a perfect and holy God. But Jesus is the answer!

I want to emphasize that the church has these things—good news, a place for you to belong, and the solution to humanity’s greatest problem—not because the people who go to church are better than other people but because God freely gives these things to those who believe in him and obey him. For all of these reasons and many more, I want to invite you to consider learning more about the message of Christianity. I invite you to do this not merely because I think it will benefit your life (although it will do that too, in many ways) but because I am convinced that Christianity is true, and that it is the key to our greatest need as humans and to making sense of the world we live in. I encourage you to approach Christianity with an open mind, to look at the evidence carefully, and to see for yourself whether the church does in fact have something that the whole world desperately needs.

Once again, I want to invite you to come join our church for Worship this coming Sunday at 11:00 am. I hope that you will see that the church is a special place, not because we are better than anyone else, but because God has given us hope and purpose in life, and we want you to have that, too. I hope that if you have any questions you will not hesitate to ask. We’d be glad to find a time to talk about any questions you have or to study the Bible more.

This year, Father’s Day has a new dimension for me. For the first time ever, in addition to celebrating my father on Father’s Day, I myself am now an expecting father. For me, it’s a season of reflection as I look back over my own childhood and look forward to raising a child of my own. As I grow older, I have come to appreciate more and more just what a blessing it is to have a godly father. I’m thankful for my father and the many, many things he has modeled well for me when it comes to being a godly father. So, although I have no personal experience of being a father yet, I want to offer three biblical reflections on fatherhood this Father’s Day. They may sound familiar to you, because we made three similar observations about motherhood a number of weeks ago on Mother’s Day.

First, fatherhood is God’s design. When he created the world, God designed humans to exist as two complimentary yet distinct counterparts: male and female. Men and women are both equal in value, and both are created in the image of God. Fatherhood and motherhood are corresponding realities that arise from the foundational reality of male and female. So while there is much overlap between motherhood and fatherhood, they are not identical in every respect. Fatherhood is part of God’s design for the home and the family. 

Second, fatherhood is good. God’s design and plan for our lives is always best. No doubt it is hard (as I’m sure I will soon find out!) but fatherhood is a good thing because it is part of God’s plan. And good things in life are seldom easy. So, fathers, do not grow weary in doing good, but remember that fatherhood is good because it is part of God’s design for the family. Nevertheless, good things that are corrupted by sin become terrible perversions of what God intended those good things to be, and this is also true of fatherhood. Therefore, although God’s design for fatherhood is good, we must not fail to see the next and final point.

Third, fatherhood is for the glory of God. We are to do everything that we do for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), but if you are a father, then God’s calling on your life is inseparable from the calling to fulfill that role in a way that brings glory to the Lord. Never think that your role as a father is unconnected from your growth in Christlikeness. The way you strive to be a godly father to your children is one key avenue for you to glorify and serve the Lord and it has incredible potential to bring glory to the Lord. So to all the fathers in our church, lean on God for strength and wisdom to fulfill this good put challenging part of his plan for your life in a way that honors and glorifies him.

If I were the director of a film telling the story of the life of Abraham, there is one scene that I would really want to get just right. The scene I have in mind is the time in Genesis when Abraham faced the greatest test of his life. This scene would be the high point of the movie, for it is the high point of Abraham’s life. To really understand the weight of this moment in Abraham’s life, though, we have to recall three prior events in his life that shaped him into the man we meet in chapter 22. Think of these three events as flashbacks that we see as Abram is walking up the mountain in chapter 22.

In the first of these flashbacks, we see Abram (before his name was changed) encountering God for the first time. The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country… to the land I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). “So Abram went…” (Gen. 12:3). Abram was a man of obedience. God said “Go!” and Abram went. In the second we see Abram receiving an incredible promise from the Lord—that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5). Abram didn’t even have one child at this point, much less a multitude of descendants. Despite the promise seeming unbelievable, “Abram believed the Lord…” (Gen 15:6). Abram was a man of faith. The Lord gave his word, and Abram believed him. Finally, in the third, we see the Lord appearing to Abram to make a covenant with him, reaffirming his promises to Abram. In response, he “fell on his face,” showing his honor for the Lord (Gen. 17:3). Clearly, Abram was a man of reverence. The Lord appeared, and Abram worshipped.

God’s command to Abraham in Genesis 22 was to go and sacrifice his promised son Isaac on Mt. Moriah. God did this to test Abraham. We’ve seen that up to this point in Abraham’s life, he was a man of obedience, faith, and reverence. But will Abraham be obedient, faithful, and reverent even when everything is on the line? Astonishingly, he was! God commanded “Go!” (22:2) and Abraham went (22:3); God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac (through whom Abraham’s descendants were promised to come) and Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:19); God tested Abraham’s devotion and it became evident that Abraham revered the Lord more highly than anything or anyone else (Gen. 24:12). The test proved that Abraham was still a man of obedience, faith, and reverence, even when everything was on the line. Like Abraham, we have formative moments in life, and then we have tests. Will we be ready for the test when it comes? Will we be obedient, faithful, and reverent even in moments of testing? God is worthy of our obedience, faith, and reverence, so let us give him our lives and our all.

One of the things high-caliber leaders do is that they select and train their own replacements. Good leaders know that they cannot lead forever or even be around forever, so they do something proactive about it. If senior leadership is deeply invested in the long-term health of the organization and want it to outlive them, they invest thought and energy into training up individuals from within their company so that one day the operations and management of the corporation can be handed over to the next generation. The leadership in churches is supposed to do something very similar. Elders and ministers cannot be around forever or lead the church forever. Instead of being bothered by this, church leaders do something proactive about it. Because church leaders are invested in the long-term health and stability of their congregation and want it to outline them, they invest time and energy into training up the next generation of men to be leaders. Paul laid out this very concept to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2. “…and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” Notice two things about this verse:

First, we can count four ‘generations’ of disciples represented in this verse. In the first place we have Paul. Then we have Timothy, who was trained by Paul. Timothy is supposed to train faithful men—the third ‘generation.’ Finally, those faithful men will teach ‘others’—the fourth ‘generation’—and from there the cycle just keeps repeating itself. Just as disciples are called to make more disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) so teachers in the church train others to become teachers as well. This is how the gospel gets passed on from generation to generation: disciples who make disciples who make disciples who make disciples… until Jesus comes back.

Second, notice what Paul says to Timothy about training disciples to become teachers and future leaders in the church. Paul mentions two characteristics these future teachers must possess (faithfulness and ability) but he puts the priority on faithfulness. He told Timothy to entrust these things to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Timothy is not to seek out gifted men to be teachers who might become faithful one day. No, he is to seek faithful men who will also be able to teach. Faithfulness is more foundation than ability or gifting.

So to men in the church, I offer this two-part challenge. First, are you prioritizing growing in faithfulness? If you want to be a leader in the church, faithfulness is the primary qualification. Second, are you doing your part in passing on the faith to the next generation? Someone taught you everything you know. Will you take the time to teach and train the next generation so that they too can one day train others? 

After years of exposure to the Bible, we sometimes lose our sense of wonder at the amazing things we read about in the pages of Scripture. Every once in a while it is good to take a step back, pause, and marvel at the miracles that we read about in the Bible, and to praise God who has shown his power through these miracles.

One fascinating miracle in the Old Testament was performed by the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 6. He was felling trees with some other men when an accident happened: “But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, ‘Alas, my master! It was borrowed.’ Then the man of God said, ‘Where did it fall?’ When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float” (2 Kings 6:5-6).

Another miracle in the Old Testament that always stops me in my tracks is found in 2 Kings 13:20-21. “So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” (2 Kings 13:20-21). What an amazing event! If you had seen this, wouldn’t you have told everyone you know about what you just witnessed? By this event, God showed his power through Elisha, even after Elisha was dead. This is one of those miracles that reminds me to pause and marvel at the power of God.

A third lesser-known miracle is found in Acts 19. While we are not told all the details, Luke emphasizes the incredible nature of these miracles. “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them” (Acts 19:11-12). It is nothing short of incredible that pieces of fabric that Paul touched could then be taken to sick and demon possessed people who were healed with the touch of the cloth.

Everyone knows that ordinarily iron doesn’t float, dead men’s bones don’t make other dead men come alive, and fabric doesn’t heal people of diseases. These are three spectacular miracles that put God’s greatness and power on full display. Nothing is too hard for our God! But all too often, instead of trusting in the God who can make iron float, dead people come alive, and heal people with a handkerchief, I worry about situations in life that seem out of my control. When something feels out of our control, it’s a good time to pause and remember that nothing is too hard for our God!

Christian, did you know that even today, in our modern world, you don’t have to travel very far to find former idolaters? That’s right, even here in Kentucky in the 21st century, you don’t have to travel around the world to find people who were once worshippers of idols. You don’t have to go to the humid jungles of South America or to the arid plains of sub-Sahara Africa. Nope, all you have to do to see a former idol-worshipper is to get up and go take a look in the nearest mirror. Staring back at you, you’ll see someone redeemed from a life of vain idol worship.

The truth is that we worship that which we most highly regard. And before we acknowledged Christ as our Lord and Savior, we regarded ourselves most highly. We were a god unto ourselves. We sat on the throne of our hearts and lived for our own glory, comfort, pleasure, and pride. But now that Christ is our Lord, all that has changed. We no longer regard ourselves most highly; we regard Christ most highly. He is our God. He sits on the throne of our hearts and we live for his glory, honor, and praise. We once worshipped the idol of self, but Christ has saved us from that vain idol worship. In ancient times, idolatry often took more obvious forms (like sacrifices to wooden or stone figures, etc.) but it had at its root the same issue: the worship that rightfully belongs to God was wrongly given to a created object or being.

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10). Like these Christians Paul wrote to, we have turned from idols (the idol of self) to serve the living and true God.

No doubt when these Christians became followers of Christ, they made a clean break with their former ways of idolatry. But turning away from the idol of self is more challenging in some respects. You can throw a physical idol out of your house and never see it again, but every day of our lives, the idol of self is trying to reassert itself into our lives, trying to drag us back into our old ways of living for self instead of living for God. So this week, put to death the old idols of self-promotion, self-glory, and self-serving; turn away from these things and give all your worship and attention and devotion to the Lord.

Children naturally imitate their parents; it’s what they do. Whether it’s pushing a toy mower behind daddy while he mows the grass, or baking mud “pies” in the backyard because they see mama hard at work on something delicious in the kitchen, children inevitably pattern their behaviors to a large degree based on what they observe in their father and mother. Personally, it feels a little intimidating knowing that soon, there will be little eyes watching me. I know that when my children or others look at me, they will not see a perfect example. And that is exactly why it is so important that we all look to the One who is the perfect example—our Lord Jesus Christ. Your spouse, your children, your parents, your roommate, your classmates—they may not see a perfect example in you when they look at your life, but they can see an example of someone who is following the perfect example.

Paul told the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” When other churches heard about the faithfulness of the Christians in Thessalonica, it wasn’t a perfect example they saw, but it was an example of Christians who were following the One who is Perfect. The point is this: we are called to be imitators of Christ. But if you put all your value and expectations in being a perfect imitator of Christ with the understanding (either voiced or unvoiced) that you have to do this in order to impress, appease, or satisfy God, you are getting off on the wrong foot. God does not call us to be imitators of Christ in order to attain an acceptable status in his eyes. He calls us to be imitators of Christ because as those who have put our faith in Jesus Christ and in his righteousness (not ours), it is right and fitting that we draw near to our Lord and let him change us from the inside out so that our lives bring glory to God.

So are you an imitator of God? If you want to imitate a master painter, you have to spend hours watching him work and trying your hand at reproducing the lighting and blending of the colors that he makes look so natural. If you want to imitate a master violinist, you have to spend hours practicing the instrument, accepting corrections and constantly pushing on through endless mistakes. If you want to imitate the heavenly Master, you have to spend hours with him in the pages of Scripture, listening to him teach, witnessing his mercy and compassion, and holding your breath while he performs seemingly impossible miracles. Let’s follow in Jesus’ footsteps by doing God’s will, because as children of God, we imitate our Father; it’s what we do.

We are all familiar with the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13—“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” But did you know that this is not the only time Paul grouped these three virtues together like this in one verse? He speaks of the same three virtues in another place in his letters, and he says something about them that is very instructive for us today. When Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in the newly established church in the city of Thessalonica, he told them that he was always giving thanks to God for them and that he was constantly mentioning them in his prayers. What was it that prompted Paul to constantly give thanks for them and to remember them in his prayers? His own words were: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice what it is that Paul remembers: their work of faith, their labor or love, and their steadfastness of hope. Practicing and embodying these virtues is not easy: it calls for work, labor, and steadfastness.

When Paul recalled their faith, it was not mere mental agreement that he remembered. He remembered their work of faith. Their faith led them to action. Biblical faith cannot be limited to ‘head knowledge.’ The evidence of faith is in the action that springs from it. And what that action looks like is submission and obedience to the word of God. The path of the Master requires trust and diligence; it truly is a work of faith. Paul also remembered their labor of love. Hollywood has convinced us that true love is supposed to be the easiest thing in the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Loving another person in a godly way is one of the hardest things! Yet that is exactly what we are called to as Christians, for Jesus commanded us to love one another as he loved us (John 15:12). The Christian life is not easy; it truly is a labor of love. Finally, Paul remembered the Thessalonians’ steadfastness of hope in Jesus. When life is good it is easy to say we are trusting in the promises of God, but when things are tough, it is difficult to remain steadfast in that hope. Since the Christian life is more like a marathon than a 100-meter sprint, God calls us to faithfulness and endurance throughout a lifetime. The way of discipleship is not always easy; it truly calls for a steadfastness of hope.

If Paul knew you, would he remember your work of faith, your labor of love, and your steadfastness of hope? This week, remember to translate faith into action, to labor at showing love, and to anchor your life in the unchanging hope that is in Christ.