GracePointe Church of Christ in Elizabethtown, PA

Text: John 17

Synopsis: As Jesus prepares for His departure, this prayer provides insight in the mission that He leaves for those who want to follow Him.  He asks the Father to watch over them and to protect them so that they can live the life of faith.  In this dark and evil world, we are to be the light of truth for the world to see.  Some will reject this, and us, and some will come to faith but the followers of Jesus are to share in such a perfect unity that the GLORY of God is revealed in our lives, as it was in Jesus.  God’s love illuminates those who accept it, and the more we accept it the more illuminated we will become.  What does it mean to SHINE in our contemporary world?

Text: John 8:12-30

Synopsis: Jesus has been clear about who he is, what he has come to do, and who has sent him; but a group of Jewish leaders are not convinced and continue to challenge him.  They refuse to see two things: first, that Jesus is the light that gives true life to those who follow him, and second, that their way of life contributes to the darkness in which the world operates.  We can take note of the Pharisees appeal to standards of validity in regard to Jesus’ claims and their appeal to Jesus being physically alone.  Jesus claims that the Father is with him and that everyone will see it.  The question is never about who Jesus is, but whether we believe it.  Thus, our belief doesn’t change who Jesus is and what He came to accomplish, it only changes the life we live and the power of sin in our lives.

Text: John 3:1-21

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, it’s safer that way for such a high ranking religious leader to approach Jesus. In the conversation Jesus has with Nic, there is a challenge to “see” what God has laid before Nic.  So, it is fair to say that Nic is both physically and theologically in the dark, because he is a leader of Israel who doesn’t seem to understand what God is doing through Jesus.  Jesus shares his mission with Nic, and the question at the end of chapter 3 is whether of not Nic will walk in the light or continue in the darkness… The invitation is to come to the light. 

Text: John 1:1-18

Synopsis: The Light Shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.  This is the story of Jesus in a nutshell.  The Fourth Gospel starts with a new creation story, one that shows the chaos of darkness that has infected and taken over the world.  Even John the Baptist seems to be taken in by some infection of the darkness, but John serves as a witness to the one who brings true light.  Darkness has led to Jesus not being known, not being accepted, but there are others who believe in Him and find LIFE in the LIGHT…and that is where life is lived.  

Habakkuk pleads with God to act in the present like he has in the past, bringing down corrupt nations. What follows is an ancient poem that describes a powerful and terrifying appearance of God through clouds, fire, and earthquake. When the Creator shows up to confront human evil, it will get everyone’s attention. Habakkuk continues by describing the future defeat of evil among the nations as a future exodus. Pharaoh, like Babylon, serves as an archetype of violent nations. In this poem, the Exodus story of the past has become an image of a future exodus God will perform. He will once again defeat evil and bring down the Pharaohs and Babylons of the world, bringing justice to all people and rescuing the oppressed and innocent. It’s this promise that enables Habakkuk to end the book with hopeful praise. By the end of the book of Habakkuk, the prophet becomes a shining example of how “the righteous live by faith.” He recognizes just how dark and chaotic the world and our lives can become, but he also sees how this invites us into the journey of faith, trusting that God loves this world more than we can imagine and that he will one day deal with its evil. 

God’s promise is then elaborated by a series of five “woes” that describe the typical forms of oppression and injustice perpetrated by nations like Babylon. The first two target unjust economic practices, like how wealthy people charge ridiculous interest to keep others trapped in debt, building their own wealth through crooked means. The third woe is a critique of slave labor and those who treat humans like animals, threatening them with violence if they aren’t productive enough. The fourth woe targets the abuse of alcohol by irresponsible leaders. While others suffer under their bad leadership, they’re partying and wasting their wealth on sex and booze. The last woe exposes the idolatry driving such nations. They have made money, power, and national security into gods, offering allegiance to them at all costs and becoming slaves to their own empire.  Now, the practices described here aren’t unique to Babylon, and that’s the point. Given the human condition, most nations will eventually become Babylon.

Habakkuk has a problem with God’s answer and offers up his second complaint because Babylon, the prophet claims, is even worse than Israel. They are even more violent and corrupt; and so Habakkuk asks, “How can such a holy, good, and just God possibly use such corrupt people as his instruments in history?” God responds that He will one day bring Babylon down using the never-ending cycle of revenge and violence created by nations like Babylon. The fact that God may, for a time, use a corrupt nation like Babylon doesn’t mean that he endorses everything they do. He holds all nations accountable to his justice, and Babylon will fall along with any nation that acts like them. 

In this passage, we examine the notion that God is good and wonder if there is a time and a situation in which we would possibly question the goodness of God. Habakkuk is facing a complete corrosion of the society he loves, and he sees nothing but wickedness in the power structures and in the behaviors of anyone with power.  So, he turns to God.  Where is God? Has God forgotten his promises? Is God powerless to do something?  While we may question God’s action in the world, God reminds Habakkuk and us that He is always working to produce a more righteous people for himself, and sometimes His means are confusion to us.  

Sermon Text is Hebrews 5:11-6:3

Sermon Text is Philippians 4:4-9