Sunday, August 6th, 2023 (The Feast of the Transfiguration)

Ex 34:29-35 Ps 99 2 Pet 1:13-21 Luke 9:28-36

Introduction

The Transfiguration of Jesus shows us that heaven is here now.

1. We encounter the power of heaven now.
2. We bring heaven to others.
3. We grow confident in Christ.

Immediately before this story:

• Peter says, “Messiah”
• Jesus foretells death, then
• “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27).

We encounter the power of heaven now.

A Dynamic (Spirit-filled), Sacred (Set-apart), and Cohesive (Scripture-centered) faith is one in which we should expect to BE in the presence of Jesus - and see him working.

We bring heaven to others.

1. Peter did not get it: Luke 9:33: “Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.”
2. 1 Kings 19 - Elijah visits:

God says, “What are you doing here? [...] GO!” Elisha, Jehu,
God does amazing thing for Elijah

Exodus 34: Moses’ Honeymoon with YHWH

8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” 10 He (YHWH) said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been performed in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord; for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

We grow confident in Christ.

2 Peter 1:19 - So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

First, notice what I am not saying: you should not grow confident in yourself. The journey of a Christian is one in which the GRACE of God and his love for you increases.

Conclusion:

Allow God to reveal heaven to you

Bring heaven to a world in darkness

Allow your confidence in Christ to increase

AMEN

Thank you for listening!
If you would like to support the ministry of Good Samaritan Church, or learn more about us please visit us at www.goodsamaritansugarhill.com.
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Sunday, August 27th, 2023 (The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost)
Isaiah 51:1-6; Psalm 138; Romans 11:25-36; Matthew 16:13-20

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
The most expensive, expansive, extravagant musical tour ever.

SO FAR: 52 dates

Between ticket sales, merchandise, album purchases - the Taylor Swift franchise has grossed over $5 billion.

According to Dan Fleetwood, President of QuestionPro Research and Insights. “If Taylor Swift were an economy, she’d be bigger than 50 countries; if she was a corporation, her Net Promoter Score would make her the fourth most admired brand, and her loyalty numbers mimic those of subjects to a royal crown.”

I want to ask you a basic question: Who is Taylor Swift?

I. Who am I?
This is THE question!
When Jesus walked onto the scene there were a lot of people who had already come to conclusions about who Jesus was. Many of the religious types rejected Jesus. Nathanial in the book of John goes so far as to say, “can anything good come out of Nazareth? And by the time of Jesus’ third year of ministry - people had all sorts of questions about Jesus. But more importantly, their questions were drawn from their preconceptions.

II. Who do you say I am?
Caesarea Philippi
Jesus places this question of who he is against the backdrop of Caesarea Philippi.
Greco-Roman: Temples, Courts, and Grottos to the recently divinized Caesar Augustus, the god Pan, and the nymphs.
Canaanites: Bashan (the mountain) the Rephaim and the Anakim (the giants) dwelled in this land. And in the mythology of the 1st century Jew - this was the location where the Nephelim in Genesis chapter 6 descended down to earth to have inappropriate relationships with the daughters of men.

Jesus wants us to go past knowing him. We are commanded to tell others … the work is in the SAYING.
In every way this points to the reality of Jesus’ calling. The work of Jesus has so far only led the disciples to the corners of Galilee, the northern portion of Israel.
But the ministry of the Church is going to expand past the borders of Israel. They are going to travel across many of the countries that would later make up Europe, western Asia, northern Africa - and into the ends of the earth.
Every location is a place that Jesus seeks to redeem.
But Jesus takes the claim even further. His ministry will reach past all the places where the living travel - and even break down the gates between the living and the dead. Jesus himself will break the bonds of death forever.

Why does this matter?
the claim: You are the Rock, and against this rock …
The who of Jesus changes the who of us.
Somewhere built into the claim of Jesus’ assembly is one that confronts the fame of the competing cults of Caesar, Pan, and the Nymphs.

You are the Christ …
You are the son of the LIVING GOD.

III. You are …!
Simon, Peter: the Rock.
The word rock - as Mountain - the new location of Jesus transfiguration.
The foundation of the Church.

When you answer the question, who is Jesus, the question, who am I suddenly shifts. Jesus as the King - has the authority to alter every aspect of your role in his Kingdom - but as the Son of God - he has the power to change your very being itself.

Notice that Jesus never asks Peter who Peter thinks Peter is - Jesus is in the business of giving Peter his own identity.

Thank you for listening!
If you would like to support the ministry of Good Samaritan Church, or learn more about us please visit us at www.goodsamaritansugarhill.com.
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2023 (The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Jeremiah 15:15–21, Psalm 26, Romans 12:1–8, Matthew 16:21–27

STORY: Grandma’s thank you cards

VERSE 1: A REASONED WORSHIP-WORK

παραστῆσαι Offer/Present

• This is not a gift that you get to take back. This is an offering that no longer belongs to you.
• Chrysostom: “For he does not say, offer ποιήσατε Exodus 29:39, Septuagint your bodies as a sacrifice, but present (παραστήσατε see below) them, as if he had said, never more have any interest in them. You have given them up to another.”

θυσίαν ζῶσαν Living Sacrifice - A sacrifice for the Hebrew temple was a gift that was given as a gift to God. Often this word refers to an animal victim.

• This gift was given to God to benefit God and God’s people.
• Here, Paul is referring to our gift as a LIVING sacrifice - meaning one that is being given over and over and over again.
• Or … a sacrifice that continues to give: Like an incense that never stops burning, or a river that never stops flowing.

Εὐάρεστον Pleasing/Acceptable

• Not just any sacrifice will do!
• The way that you live and work is intended to please God.
• I will address the problem this word creates for us in a moment.

λατρεία Worship/Service

• 12:1 and 9:4 (points directly to the service and worship of the Israelites). Refers to LXX of Ex 12:25 (the Passover Supper) and Jos 22:27, and 1Ch 28:13 (Temple Services).
• Related to the word Liturgy, it is WORK.
• Did you know that worship and prayer is work?

λογικός “Spiritual”/ but really: Reasonable

• Because the actual word is “logikeh” - where we get the word “logical.” Literally in this sense - the word means that our worship is a response that aligns with God’s reason.
• As it will become clear in just a moment, this reasonable worship is not going to be found by using our reason.

(the New Testament for Everyone)

Be. Know. Grow. Go.

The BE is about reorienting our self understanding.
You are a WORSHIP instrument. Every part of you is made to play the song: God is AWESOME.

Verse 1: Our response to God’s mercy is a life of worship.

The problem is that word “acceptable” or “pleasing”. In order for something to be pleasing to God, we have to somehow know what pleases God. How to life in a way that pleases God.

VERSE 2: TRANSFIGURED MINDS

μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε Don’t be fashioned (outward, only skin deep)
Note: the Passive, Temporary, fickle, a trend that is here today and gone tomorrow.

Μεταμορφοῦσθε (μεταμορφόω) Transfigured (like the transfiguration) a complete change.
Note: Passive, This is a change to divine things - moral character

Ἀνακαίνωσις Renewal/Renovation
Change for the better, (ana): an upward movement

Νοῦς “Rational Mind”
Reason-Center for perceiving, understanding, feeling, judging,

δοκιμάζω To prove by testing
Bible study as the class and the laboratory

θέλημα Will/Desi

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Sunday, January 1st, 2023

Isa 61:10—62:5 Ps 147:12-20 Gal 3:23—4:7 John 1:1-18

SERMON

Bringing Heaven to Earth: Grace upon Grace

Introduction: The Ambassadors of God

The main point I want to make with you today is that God desires intimacy with you.

Two Images:

There are two images from our readings

that serve to me as a sort of side by side comparison.

First the Image from John: The Word became flesh.

Second the image from Galatians: You are clothed with Christ.

I want to unpack these images for us

and use them as a tool to describe

this bringing together of God and Humanity.

John: Clothed in Flesh

Image: Wearing Superman

1. God Made the First Move: (1 John 4:10)

“In this is love, not that we loved God

but that he loved us and sent his Son

to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

• God set up the world in such a way so that you might be saved.
  • Not that you will, but so that you could if you chose to be.

God Went Down: (Philippians 2:7-8)

“but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

assuming human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a human,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death—

even death on a cross.”

• The way of God’s incarnation is unexpected: it is a way of humility.
  • Suffering results in this new life
    • (think of reproductive suffering with a child)

God Shined in Darkness: (John 1:5)

“The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it.”

• Jesus spoke and lived the truth.
  • Some saw Jesus’ truth and followed it
    • Most saw Jesus truth and rejected it or tried to squash it.

Galatians: Clothed with Christ Adulting in Faith (Galatians 3:25-26)

“But now that faith has come,

we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,

for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.”

• Start acting like Jesus
  • Everyone is watching you to see how God acts.

No more Democrats or Republicans (Galatians 3:28)

“There is no longer Jew or Greek;

there is no longer slave or free;

there is no longer male and female,

for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

• Not just “stop acting” in Christ there are none.
  • One in Christ means we are all responsible for one another.
  • We cannot ever say “not my problem”

Heirs of God’s Promise (Galatians 3:29)

“And if you belong to Christ,

then you are Abraham’s offspring,

heirs according to the promise.”

• You belong to Christ
  • You also inherit what God’s children inherit

AMEN

Thank you for listening!
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Sunday, August 20th, 2023 (The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost)

Isa 56:1-8 Ps 67 Rom 11:13-24 Matt 15:21-28

Introduction

STORY: A woman from Retirement Home

• Pentecost: asked me for anointing and prayers for healing. When I did not show up she called me, Irene, left voicemails.
• Someone said, “she is being RUDE.”
• She did not stop asking for prayers until I laid my hands on her.

Healing in the scriptures

• As human creatures living in the world, we know that something is broken about the world.

REASON: Earth was made for heaven.

• All healing is an anticipation of that unity between heaven and earth.

MERCY: Have Mercy on ME!

MERCY: not getting what we deserve.

1. So why would she ask for it?
2. This is not something that she has the right to, not something that she has earned. She has no rights to this request -
3. but she shouts for it.

IDENTITY: She is not a SHEbrew/Judean

1. Gentile

Division between Greeks (Matthew’s word for Gentiles) and Hebrews.

1. Persistent & Insistent

v.22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting
v.23 “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”

Her Approach: The woman's attitude of being aggressive - she was not worried about being put off, she was going to receive healing even if she had to upset the healer.

BELOVED:
Mercy is not dependent on the worthiness of the recipient but the kindness of the giver.

HESED - “Enduring Love-Mercy”, “Loyal Love”
Image of God
She is made in the image of God.
Her brokenness is something only God can heal.

APPLICATION:

Our God is a God of Hesed: Enduring Love-Mercy.

• It is out of God’s HESED that he asks us to PUT HIM FIRST.

AND -

• In showing us our desperate temporary circumstances, God is showing us our desperate ETERNAL circumstances.

Jeremiah 29:12-13

12 When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart […]

HUMILITY Jesus: Lord, Son of David
Coming to Jesus on Jesus’ terms, using Hebrew titles
David is King (Messiah) Lord - Kurios - Kyrie Eleison

HUMBLE:

1. Kneeling: She is more interested in God’s healing than her pride: HUMBLE.
2. Jesus called her a wild DOG: not a pet dog, a RAT DOG. A Pest.
3. She did not disagree with him. And in comparison to Jesus, she is a mangy mutt. SO ARE WE!!!!
4. She did not let her pride get in the way. She saw Jesus’ healing mercy as greater than her status or stature.

APPLICATION:

• We need to remove our POSTURE OF PRIDE:
• It does not work in a country club church
• We must become a HOUSE OF HEALING

Psalm 126:5-6

5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

Conclusion: Heaven Fall Down
I HAVE ONE JOB: To get you to heaven

1. We do not have to wait for you to die.
2. On earth as in heaven … heaven and earth unite in the Church.

You can encounter heaven now: Like Jesus, James, and John on the mountain when Jesus became transfigured before them and shined brighter th

Thank you for listening!
If you would like to support the ministry of Good Samaritan Church, or learn more about us please visit us at www.goodsamaritansugarhill.com.
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Sunday, September 8th, 2024 (The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Isaiah 35:4–7a; Psalm 146; James 1:17–27; Mark 7:31–37

SERMON

THE YEAR OF REVIVAL: Practicing the Way

“Ephphatha”

Summary

Prayer opens your eyes and your ears to Jesus,

who shows you the world from heaven’s perspective.

The GOAL

To become like Christ through prayer.

Thank you for listening!
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Sunday, March 5th, 2023 (Lent 2)

Genesis 12:1-9; Psalm 33:12-21; Romans 4:1-12; Romans 4:13-17; John 3:1-16

SERMON

Introduction: Last week: Temptation

This week, sin.

Lent is about recognizing, exposing, and removing sin.

1. Sin is about disconnect from God, and is therefore a brokenness in our BEING.
   1. The stories of Salvation from our texts (Romans 4, John 3) describe a process that is not centered in what we DO but who we ARE.
      1. Romans 4:
         1. Sin as a debt / blemish

7 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.

1. This language of reckoning describes a debt mark.
2. John 3:
   1. what is born of flesh is flesh, what is born of spirit is spirit
   2. Jesus says that in order to be part of heaven, you have to BE in God.
      1. We are not just born connected to God, we need to be re-born.
3. Salvation is about FINDING GOD again, staying in sin is living separated from God.
   1. Proverbs 8:35-36

35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, 36 but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death.”

1. John 3: The bronze serpent
   1. Belief for the people in Exodus was about standing near the cast-serpent. Believing in Jesus is about BEING with him.
2. Psalm 33:17
   1. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him, * and upon those who put their trust in his mercy,
3. Salvation is deliverance from death, sin is letting the (s)infection spread
   1. Romans 4:17 “God gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist”
   2. God uses us to bless (Gen 12:2)
      1. As people and nations
   3. John 3:16
      1. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
         1. The sending of the son is a cascading effect. Eternal life begins to spring out of our love for God and one another.

Conclusion:

Lent: recognizing our sin and our need for salvation.

Opportunity to BE in god’s presence.

AMEN

++++++++

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In this sermon on February 19th 2023 Bishop Frank Lyons talks about the Transfiguration of Jesus.

Thank you for listening!
If you would like to support the ministry of Good Samaritan Church, or learn more about us please visit us at www.goodsamaritansugarhill.com.
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