Asbury Church

Moses may have been the best leader in the Old Testament, but it was time for a shift. God’s mission is always greater than one person. Joshua was given the challenge of leading a new generation of Israelites. He would face some difficult times. The Lord told Joshua to “be strong and courageous.” How can people be strong and courageous? As the text states, God promised to be with Joshua. He was told to maintain his relationship with God through His Word. Joshua has to focus on the Lord and not lose his nerve. We believe God speaks to us through Scripture, tradition (the church), reason and experience. All are vitally important, but we begin by implementing God’s will with Scripture. A follower of Jesus is devoted to understanding and applying God’s word to daily life. My first attempts to read the Bible after becoming a Christian were as a young teenager. Thankfully, someone led me. I learned the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) explains how our hearts are like one of four soils God’s word falls on, each yield a different result. Someone else explained the book of James. That little book applied to me. I slowly learned the Gospel stories like the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Another friend challenged me to memorize Scripture. I began to read, understand and apply the Bible. The pursuit that started as a young teen has lasted all the days of my life too. The Bible has been my guide, light, instructor, counselor and source of revelation to the identity of Jesus Christ. It is difficult to follow Jesus if we don’t know the Bible. I believe the goal of life is about two things: wisdom and relationships. If we have neither, we are a mess. If we have wisdom without relationship, what good is it? If we have relationships without wisdom, watch out! The best way to have wisdom and meaningful relationships is to know the Lord. The best way to know Him is to follow the instructions He gave to Joshua. - Pastor Tom Harrison

We see the sorrow and grief of the Israelites after the greatest man in the Old Testament died. Moses lived to be 120 but still did not get to do everything he wanted. Ecclesiastes describes the inevitability of death. The limited revelation in the Old Testament makes me grateful for the opportunity to tell people that even when this life is over, it is NOT over. We are Easter people. Our earthbound exit is transformed into a heavenly entrance. Eugene O’Kelly was the CEO of the huge accounting firm, KPMG. He had the world by the tail. In his book, “Chasing Daylight,” he wrote, “I was blessed. I was told I had three months to live.” What an odd statement. O’Kelly was 53 years old when diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He described how he would face his final shift – death. It’s painful to realize a person who is so important in our lives can be gone in a second. Yet, we ALL die. No one here gets out alive. I recently saw my life expectancy is 19½ years. I plan to beat that. However, the end is relatively near for all of us. We never know. James 4:14 is correct, “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” We all want to live long and healthy lives, but what happens beyond this life? Many prefer not to think about it. Let’s read about the tremendous gift God has given us – eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Pastor Tom Harrison

It was a watershed moment – the Israelites were being transferred from one location to another and from bondage to freedom. Not only were they moving residence, but they had to shift out of neutral and commit to driving forward. Slavery was all this generation had known. After being granted their release, they anticipated smooth sailing. When Pharaoh reversed his promise to let them go and pursued them with the world’s greatest army, their besetting sin reared its head – fear expressed through grumbling. The Israelites refused to trust God or their leadership. They preferred returning to a dysfunctional relationship instead of seizing an unprecedented opportunity. The Israelites were asked to make two transitions – an EXIT from the kingdom of darkness and an ENTRANCE into the kingdom of light. Unfortunately, they never made the shift. After their miraculous delivery from Pharaoh, they never learned to trust the deliverer. They chose complaint, criticism and grumbling. They forfeited their entry pass into the Promised Land because of their hard hearts and bitter tongues. - Pastor Tom Harrison

When life overwhelms us, we must make hard decisions most prefer to avoid. This often includes parenting. On the one hand, our moms will always be our moms. On the other hand, the role comes with times of transition. Certain rites of passage are essential and must occur. Moms must shift into letting go. While a few moms abandon, many moms become overprotective. The comedian, Sam Levenson, said on his first day of school, his overprotective mom told the teacher not to punish him if he misbehaved. Instead, the teacher should punish the child sitting next to Sam because, “My little boy learns best by example.” Moses’ mother had little choice. Had she clung to her son; Pharaoh would have him killed. Though incredibly painful, she made the responsible choice to let him go. She entrusted her infant to God’s care. Hannah let Samuel go; Elizabeth let John go; Mary did the same with Jesus. The nurture of a mom is enormously important in shaping her child. While exceptions may exist for special needs, we raise children to let them go to find their own call and place. Letting go doesn’t mean we don’t care; it means we can’t live our kids’ lives for them. We cannot control them. Their outcome is not in our hands. They must learn to face their own reality. Letting go is not fear-based but views the future with optimism and opportunities to grow. We support, affirm, trust and believe in our kids; but we must also release them to the Lord. Our kids aren’t really ours; they belong to the Lord. - Pastor Tom Harrison

Who do you think was our greatest president? I think it’s a tie between George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. They both faced overwhelming circumstances and overcame unbelievable odds to birth America and to hold it together. The two men kept their focus. They shared a common virtue: confident humility. Washington resisted the voices requesting him to become a king. Lincoln assembled a team. As Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book explained, Lincoln ended up with a “Team of Rivals.” Washington had his Benedict Arnold and Lincoln had a group of malcontents in his cabinet. Both presidents showed confident humility during seismic shifts throughout the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The improbable outcomes make me believe Ben Franklin was right when he told the Constitutional Congress in 1787: “I have lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of the truth – that God governs in the affairs of men.” We see the governance of God in the Bible. Joseph, like Washington and Lincoln, had a team of rivals, saboteurs and would-be assassins. He had to deal with his treacherous brothers who sold him into slavery. Joseph was falsely accused, was forgotten and left to rot in an Egyptian prison. Yet, through all the shifts he endured. Joseph never lost his belief that God was with him and had called him to a unique time and place. Life is an unpredictable struggle, but maybe some of our “bad luck” is a great opportunity for God to show off His glory. - Pastor Tom Harrison

Jesus’ walk to Emmaus with these two followers is full of mystery, wonder and awe. Also read Luke’s account of what happened in the early church (our daily readings from Acts). The New Testament repeatedly emphasized the word “Scripture(s).” Interestingly, the word “Scripture(s)” is never used in the Old Testament. We have a phrase, “Word and Table.” It means that Jesus is made known by the Word of God (Scripture) and by Holy Communion. These are two primary means of grace through which Jesus opens our eyes and our minds to new realities. Worship can open our eyes, minds and hearts to consistent experiences of God’s grace. Worship is best done as an automated rhythm of life (not haphazardly). Asbury’s strategic initiative for 2019-2020 is: “Helping Others Follow Jesus by strengthening worship attendance.” We want you to attend worship services because everything leverages off worship. This is where we meet others, make new friends, get involved in study and service, sing, pray together, give our money, learn what is going on, share our creeds, receive and extend forgiveness, and hear the Scriptures proclaimed. It is a place to listen, learn, grow, witness and give our attention to God. We find a place where the main agenda is to follow Jesus. We find God’s grace here. Worship rearranges life. It needs to be our No. 1 priority. In the absence of making it so, this saying becomes true: “We worship our work, we work at our play and we play at our worship.” - Pastor Tom Harrison

The Bible is a book about real people and real stories. Something incredible started happening after the Resurrection. Jesus started appearing to people in all kinds of places and situations. His bodily presence demonstrated He was physically alive and present. The gospels have various accounts of these post-resurrection appearances. Luke goes into detail about Jesus appearing to two disciples who were walking on the road to a village named “Emmaus.” Luke says their “eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Jesus spoke to them, beginning with Moses and the prophets, and explained the Scriptures and how they all pointed to Himself. They were crushed by the crucifixion and confused by the post-resurrection appearances they were hearing about. Jesus opened their eyes. The Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) are “the Scriptures” Jesus described. The New Testament had not been written yet. These Scriptures pointed to Jesus. All the stories of the Old Testament culminate in the Resurrection of Jesus. The Old Testament becomes a new book when we look for Christ in all of it. There are many troubling and confusing parts in the Hebrew Bible (names, places, violence, warfare, dietary laws, etc.) but it is only the first act of a two-part play. Without the Old, the New is without foundation and doesn’t make sense. Without the New, the Old is incomplete. The last word in the Old Testament is “destruction” (or “curse”). The last sentence of the New Testament is: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:21) I’ll take the grace of Jesus over “destruction/curse” any day.

- Pastor Tom Harrison