So yesterday Jeremy Nuckolls (Youth Pastor) and Nick Ballenger (Executive Pastor) for Summit Church met with the Charleston Baptist Association and were confirmed regarding their application for Ordination. Jon Davis was on-hand to celebrate the event and was delighted to hear the response from the board members. When asked about how he felt about his ordination Ballenger said, "I feel good about it". Jeremy Nuckolls responded by saying "What's that mean? How do you feel? I feel...hold on...normally when people say...they're going to quote you, they tell you that. You can't go quote people and not tell them you're quoting them. I feel...good about it...pretty excited that the local church has confirmed the ordination that the Lord has placed on my life".
Summit will celebrate the confirmation of the two "staff" members shortly, and we look forward to seeing everyone there!
- Ballenger
Isaiah 40:1--3
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Joshua 3:2--8, 11--4:3
I. First way the culture is penetrated (or make a difference), someone is convinced of GODʼs
power! (penetrated idea from Alvin Reid, via HOLY SPIRIT; see vv. 2--4)
A. “barrier of culture”: “The canaanites worshiped the fertility gods...baal, the god of water, rain, storm, wind, thunder, lightning, depths of the water (Joshua 3:15)...the river represented that Rahab was shielded from the Israelites and their GOD. [baal] is protecting us [because of the river].” (Ray Vander Laan)
B. “The dividing of the Jordan river, when separated, GOD was making a declaration that HE was stronger...than the gods of the culture...water miracles [during desert wanderings] which had to impress upon their hearts GOD was not a GOD of limited location, but a GOD of everything. And, HE was bigger than all other gods in the culture. (Ibid.)
C. Application: “We need to decide if GOD is the GOD of everything, or there are some things that are outside of HIS control.
D. v. 4: even if “you have never been this way before” / Key is reverence! (“keep a
distance”)
II. Second way the culture is penetrated (or make a difference), GODʼs “priests” (or people) go first. (v. 14)
A. Who are “priests?”
B. “priests”
1 Peter 2:9--12
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out
of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now
you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you
have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in
the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing
wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
a) “What stands between you and your calling in life...what [GOD] want[s] to do through
you, [HE’ll] take care of it. But nothing will happen until you put your foot in the water....” (Ray Vander Laan)
b) “Once the ‘priests’ stepped in, they were going to be over their heads, or...” (Ibid.)
c) “If they [hadn’t stepped into the water] theoretically, the whole nation would still be
standing on the bank. But what loosed the power of GOD [if you will] GOD whether
[we] live or...die we’ve got to make a commitment. And they stepped in over their heads...” (Ibid.)
C.They didn’t go empty handed. They had a symbol of GOD’s presence:
1. “the ark”: “the place where GOD’s presence was...” (Vander Laan)
a) HIS mercy seat and HIS Word. (vv. 10--11, 14)
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Psalm 56:3--4
3 When I am afraid, I will trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?
b) Also, we have the HOLY SPIRIT!
Ephesians 1;13--14
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in
him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.
c)“GOD acts often when people are willing to make that total commitment.
d) Application: Do I want GOD to remove all the barriers and then step out, or will I
make a “total commitment...step in, I’m yours because I believe when I make the total
commitment GOD acts?” (Ibid.)
e) Can you imagine “one priest saying to another priest, ‘Wasn’t I in front yesterday?’”
When we take the first step, then “someone else will have the courage to step forward.”
(1) “We must confront the power of the culture, but we can’t sit and wait until HE
[GOD] figures it all out for [us].” (Vander Laan)
(a) “Determine where you think GOD wants you to go...determine where you
think your abilities and interests are...has to be a total life commitment...
III. Application:
A. Do I feel like I am in way over my head? Call out to GOD! Is GOD’s “arm too short?”
Isaiah 50:2
When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to
answer? Was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
Matthew 26:36--46
I. When we feel like we have “the weight of the world” on us (i.e., pressed), prayer is the answer! (Ray Vander Laan)
A. Insight #1: We will all be pressed.
John 15:20
20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
1. v. 36: “Gethsemane” = “Olive Press”
2. “Many “Olive press[es] in Capernaum where JESUS did most of HIS three year ministry.”
3. “That olive press came to symbolize the weight that JESUS carried, the weight that JESUS
felt as HE went to the cross.” (Ray Vander Laan)
4. Olive oil: “connected with anointing and MESSIAH” (Ibid.)
5. “The olive tree was considered the MESSIANIC tree. Two reasons:
a) One...the MESSIAH means to be anointed with olive oil, priest were anointed, kings
were anointed, prophets were anointed...indicated they were gifted an called by GOD”
b) “The second thing about olive trees...when an olive tree gets old they cut it down
because there’s too much trunk for the leaves...the following year, a new branch comes
out of the old olive tree...new fruit and lots of healthy branches.... Now GOD in the Old
Testament compares the unbelieving nation of Israel to an olive tree and HE says, ‘You
didn’t produce any fruit.’ But I was patient. I dug around you. I fertilized you. I kept you
growing, and after a while I see now fruit...so I cut you down.” (Ibid.)
Isaiah 11:1--4
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch
will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of
wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-- 3 and he will delight in the fear
of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by
what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the
needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will
strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will
slay the wicked.
c) “If JESUS is the ‘Branch,’ then you, Paul says have been grafted in. That means [our]
roots are the Jewish people. That’s our stump.... JESUS is where [we] get our life and
[our] energy, but the key is the olives [we] produce. And if GOD cut down the natural
tree....
(1) “Capernaum” “is the town JESUS pronounces a curse on.” (Ibid.)
Matthew 11:20--24
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had
been performed, because they did not repent. 21 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to
you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22
But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment
than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you
will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been
performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it
will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
(2) “Now what scares me about that curse is that I’m the ‘Capernaum’ of today. I’ve
heard it all...every miracle of JESUS. I’ve seen HIS hand in your lives...and when
you’ve seen JESUS in action, not to respond is an extremely serious thing. And the
strongest curses in the Bible are not for the most evil people, but for the people who
are evil who know better.” (Ibid.)
d) “The word for shoot in Hebrew is of the same word Nazareth.
Matthew 2:21, 23
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of
Israel. 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was
fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a
Nazarene."
(1) “A ‘Nazarene’ is somebody from shoot town, branch town...JESUS came from
‘Nazareth’ to indicate HE is the ‘Branch.’
6.“Olive oil was not only food, but it was the oil in their lamps, lubricating oil..only preserving
agent, skin care, they used it for almost everything. Like we would use petroleum.” (Ibid.)
a) Which means, whatever is pressed out of us can be used for many different things.
b) “Capernaum”: “like the general motors for crushers...leading industry in...town” (Ibid.)
c) “Here’s how you processed [the olives]: First, you put olives in this sea...take...large
millstone with a stick through it...fasten to a stick in the middle...attach to a donkey...what
it would do to those black olives that were ripe, it would crack them.
(1) “When they would finish cracking these olives...they would put them into a
bag...bring them over to...a large stone column...then lift up...stack those bags of
olives...on base...sat back down large stone pillar on the olives...and leave it stand
there. As that enormous weight begins to sat down heavily on those olives after a few
minutes that very precious oil begins to drip down...into a pit where it is caught. ...they
take the olives out, get another squeezing” (Ibid.)
(2) “This olive pillar is called the olive press, we say ‘Gethsemane.’ Its job is to squeeze
out of the olive its precious oil.... JESUS takes HIS disciples to ‘Caesarea Philippi’ and
tells them to take on ‘the gates of hell’ and then HE shows them how. He goes to
Jerusalem...has HIS last supper then goes out to the garden of the Olive
Press...experienced the weight of what was going to be laid upon HIM...and the weight
of that was so incredibly heavy that it squeezed out of HIM HIS own blood...HE was
heavily pressed...”
(3) “...laid on HIM was the sin of the entire world...the weight was so enormous that HE
said, ‘GOD take it away, but I will do YOUR will.’” (Ibid.)
(4) “The olives are JESUS. What is the weight? [Us!]”... We are what squeezed out of
JESUS HIS own blood... [I] became JESUS’ ‘Gethsemane.’ HE went to hell forever in
six hours.” (Ibid.)
B. Insight #2: Spiritual battles are felt physically. (vv. 37, 41; Luke)
Luke 22:40--46
40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." 41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."
1. “drops of blood”
2. “[S]orrow” produces physical exhaustion! But, it doesn’t reduce or eliminate the temptation.
3. Prayer heightens our “temptation” radar.
1 John 3:5
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is
no sin.
Colossians 1:13--14
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins.
Luke 12:47--48
47 "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or
does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48
But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will
be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much
will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
much more will be asked.
C. Just when we think the pressing is over, we get pressed more.
II. Am I being pressed? Pray and trust in the one who went through it victoriously!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
David Platt at Southern Seminary...goodness...watch this
Posted by The Ballengers
Are you building the Kingdom of God or are you building your own Empire?
The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church, saying he had received reports of divisions among them. “What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:12-13)
Followers Want a Hero to Worship
While Paul specifically addresses the factions and quarrels roiling the Corinthian church, implicit in the “I follow Apollos” and “I follow Cephas” charge is the tendency of some people to derive identity, sustenance, and life itself from obeisance to a leader. Following well is what followers should do, and giving honor to one’s teachers is biblical, but what is godly about hero worship? Leaders can’t help that sin manifests itself through some people putting mere images of God on pedestals. It’s not the sin of good leaders but the sin of the idolatrous followers that pedestalizes mere humans.
That’s all on the demand-side.
Our Empire or Christ’s Kingdom?
The supply-side of the same problem is the temptation that leaders experience to create personal or corporate Empires. The Empire can be the organization or the part of an organization that one leads, or the Empire can literally be a cult of personality that a leader creates and fosters. While the supply-side problem of Empire-building occurs in any arena of human endeavor, this problem looks particularly grotesque when we recognize our imperial labors done in the name of Christ’s Kingdom.
But how could we not pervert the calling of Christ’s Kingdom? We sin. Our hearts are idol factories (Calvin, Institutes, 1.11.8). We pervert everything else we touch, so how would we not, at least in part, turn Christ’s Kingdom into personal Empire? If the telos of our call is to glorify God by building his Kingdom, the means for obeying that call can become, unwittingly, means of disobedience.
Hijacking God’s Gifts for Empire-Building
As Pastor Mark Driscoll taught in his message at the Advance 09 conference, the essence of idolatry is this: take a good thing, make it an ultimate thing, and that’s a bad thing. Our various specific callings within the call to build the Kingdom are good things that require all sorts of specific actions to fulfill the callings. Your special talent and mine? Perverting those good actions, hijacking the means intended for the Kingdom and diverting them into means of Empire. Repent, Believe, Obey
I spend a lot of time trying to build an Empire, Docent, in the name of the Kingdom of God. My failures in this regard prove that one doesn’t have to have a reputation or lead a large organization. All that is required is a heart that longs for significance found anywhere but in Jesus. So I repent, believe the gospel, and seek by the Spirit’s power to follow Christ again in Kingdom-building. Over and over I repeat this three-fold gospel rhythm of repent, believe, obey.With renewed recognition of the gospel, knowing that Jesus has already redeemed your sin of Empire-building, and has already made you righteous—knowing that you’re not under condemnation—would you ask yourself this question? Better yet, ask your spouse, your close friends, your colleagues to ask you this question:
Are you doing what you’re doing for your Empire or for the Kingdom of God?
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