MT. SYLVAN BAPTIST CHURCH

“Working Where God is at Work!”

John 4:34,  5:17,  8:29

The primary way Jesus knew how to do the Father’s will, was to watch to see what the Father was doing. When Jesus saw what the Father was doing, He joined that work.

Notice in John 4:34 how Jesus replies to His disciples. This is the story of the Samaritan woman. Now we are all familiar with the story, it’s where Jesus wins the woman at the well. John says in 4:4 that “He needed to go through Samaria. So, He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.”

Now this piece of ground is incredibly significant. Back in Genesis 33:18-20 the bible tells us that Jacob bought this piece of land from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father for one hundred pieces of money. Then Jacob erected an altar there and called it El E-lohe Israel. Meaning the God of Israel. So historically, this is a place of great significance.

Isn’t it wonderful how Jesus sets us an example of listening to God? Somebody might say, well, if Jesus is God then why did He have to pray and find God’s desires? The answer is simple, He was God and Man all at the same time. He allowed His glory to be veiled in flesh for you and me. Jesus is God, but He was also Man. He obeyed the Father perfectly. Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law and He obeyed His Father perfectly without fail in our behalf. By watching His obedient life, we learn how to listen, how to pray and how to obey from His example. I mean we see in Jesus a love and care to go and win this Samaritan woman to the Lord. We see her go back to her city and bring others to Christ. This is a wonderful story of how God works in the normalcies of life. I mean, a water well, a drink of water, a woman and a conversation that went from the physical to the spiritual because Jesus was in obedience to His Father.

Now I want to point out a few things that help you and I to determine how to hear from God and to accept His invitation of involvement where He is at work.

First, Jesus was sensitive to the Spirit of God and we should be too. In John 8:28-29 scripture says “Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” Now there is a lot of wisdom and insight revealed in those verses. We see Jesus sensitive to the Father and His purpose to send His Son into the world to die for our sins. Jesus knew that His mission was to redeem lost souls. We are comforted by this truth. Jesus is 100% God and 100% Man. He was there before the world was created knowing His mission to come to the earth He created to love us, to be lifted at Calvary and to loose us from our sin.

Secondly, Jesus was aware of the presence of God. He said “The Father has not left Me alone”. Jesus knew the will of God and the work that He was sent to do. He was sensitive to that work and everything He did in life was in perfect obedience to the will of God. The writer of Hebrews speaking of Christ says in Heb. 10:7 “Then I said, Behold, I have come-In the volume of the book it is written of Me-To do your will, O God.” Jesus was always working in Gods will with a realization of His presence.

Thirdly, Jesus was always doing the things that pleased God. The text says “for I always do those things that please Him.” Now this is the key in finding fulfillment and meaning in life. As believers we need to find where God is at work and join Him there. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. As we read the bible and pray our ears will be sensitive to the things God. It’s a joy to sense Gods leading and find where He is working and join that work. As we do, we find ourselves walking by faith. As we walk by faith, we become more aware of His presence because we are listening to Him. Jesus also said in this text, “but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things”. Do you see that active correlation between His hearing from God and speaking the words of God. This reminds me of His words in Matthew 10:20. It was this dynamic that Jesus lived at all times that caused Him at least from His humanity side to “do those things that always please Him” of John 8:29.

Now today, we look to see where God is working. I mean the nation is in quarantine, there is a virus and everyone is affected in some way. We see God working as churches Live stream their services. God has caused His church to be in the media world almost overnight. Millions are now exposed to the gospel. Today is Tuesday, and did you know that we have already had about 1,600 views of our service Sunday. That’s incredible. That doesn’t count where two are watching one device. We need to pray for our live stream services. God is working. We don’t have the equipment to do this, so its been trial and error. We are using a 6’ ladder placed over some center pews. We put Juli’s IPad on the paint tray of the ladder. We crank up the sound system really loud in the church and wal-lah we are streaming live. It is working and we are glad because God is using our makeshift video to carry our singing and preaching into homes.

Another area God is at work right now is through encouragement. This is a time we need to be encouraging one another and finding ways to help. A simple phone call or thought out text can go a long way. We can pray for one another and for souls to come to Christ. We can pray for our governmental leaders, for a vaccine, and as always for revival in our nation. The opportunities and places to serve God have changed some for now, but that’s okay. Your spiritual gifts that you typically use will need new and creative ways to blossom other than in the church building, at least temporarily. While temporarily out of our building let’s find other ways to use our gifts for His glory. Let’s see where God is at work and join Him in that work.

Bro. Bruce Rudd

“This is the day!”

Psalms 118:24

 In these daily blogs, I am focusing on Jesus. Every blog will have something unique about our Lord. You may already be wondering what Psalms 118:24 has to do with Christ personally. Did you know that Psalms 118:24 is one of the most misunderstood verses in the bible? Yet its meaning when read in context will leap off the page. Its meaning is marvelous and worth our rejoicing every day.

Here is our familiar verse Ps.118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalms 118 is the center chapter of our bible. Psalms 118:8 is the center verse in our bible. Psalms 117 is the shortest chapter in the bible and it reminds the gentiles that there is kindness and mercy coming from God to them. Then chapter 118 reminds Israel that kindness and mercy is coming to them too. Between chapters 117 & 118 is encompassed the whole world. John 3:16 says “for God so loved the world” and it’s in this chapter 118 we see the preview of Jesus coming into the world. Do you know what is the central doctrine of all the bible? It’s the cross, it’s the Savior come into the world to live a perfect life, die as the innocent Lamb on behalf of guilty sinners and be raised to life to pardon and redeem.

What a beautiful “day.” A day when the shepherds receive an amazing angelic announcement as they are watching their sheep in the night. A day that caused wise men after seeing His star, to travel hundreds of miles to worship. A day that the prophets of old longed for. A day that the Roman Centurion and those with him at Calvary’s cross witnessed the power of God. They suddenly attested to this day, when in great fear of the supernatural events said “truly this was the Son of God.” It is a day that split the temple veil, split the rocks and darkened the earth for three hours. It is the day that the whole of the bible is written about. And that “day” encompasses the time period from the birth to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is what Psalms 118:24 is all about. What a wonderful day this verse describes.

 This is one of those verses we all quote very often. And yes, its true and its wonderful that every day is a day the Lord created and we should rejoice in it and be glad. But this verse has a better and deeper meaning than that. This verse is not speaking of each and every day on our calendar. Not at all, it has nothing to do with that. Let’s look at it again in its context. To do so I will show you the verses around it. Now keep in mind we are in the central chapter of the bible.

Psalms 118: 20-27

 ²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord,
Through which the righteous shall enter.  (ponder John 10:9)

 ²¹ I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.     (ponder Is.59:1)

²² The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
^23 [c]This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.                          (ponder Matt.21:42-44) Jesus applies Ps.118:22 to Himself

²⁴ This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.                 (ponder John 3:16-17)

²⁵ Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (ponder the triumphal entry John 12: 12-25)

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷ God is the Lord,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. (ponder Lk.1:69)

In conclusion:

What a blessing this centerpiece chapter 118 brings, as its focus is on the central message of the bible, the cross. Now we can truly say with the Psalmist “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it”.

Bro. Bruce Rudd

“The Seven Sabbath Day Miracles”

 Today is Sunday, the Lord’s day, as some say.  Now, I think it’s interesting that the bible records seven Sabbath day miracles. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and for us we celebrate His resurrection on Sundays. So, today is our Sabbath day, if you will. This is a day we can express in a special way our love for God and each other. Completeness or divine perfection is represented by seven in the bible. The book of Revelation deals in a significant way the number seven. There are 7 days in our week. In the book of John, for example, there are the 7 “I Am” statements of Jesus, the 7 sign miracles that He is the Messiah; all in John.  Our rainbow consists of 7 colors. There are 7 notes on a music scale. Jews understood the principle of seven. In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked the Lord how many times he could forgive a brother. Then Peter, thinking he already knew the answer anyway, quickly blurted out his own perceived answer by saying, “Up to seven times?” Peter automatically assumes seven times was the correct answer. Jesus replies, “I do not say up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”  So, we can see that seven means something in the bible about completion. There is great comfort in the name Jesus Christ, He is our Jesus Messiah.

There were rules against working and doing certain things on the Sabbath Day. However, many of these rules restricting folks were added by tradition, not God. Therefore, when Jesus performed a miracle on the Sabbath it greatly bothered the religious leaders. I think these seven miracles were done to teach them that Jesus is God, the long-awaited Messiah, making Him Lord of the Sabbath.

Let’s review these seven miracles.

#1. Jesus heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31)

#2. Jesus heals a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:1-6)

#3. Jesus heals a man born blind (John 9:1-16)   

#4. Jesus heals a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17)

#5. Jesus heals a man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-6)

#6. Jesus drives out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28)

#7. Jesus heals a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18)

The character of God is that of love. Jesus didn’t come to destroy lives; but to save lives. When we see these healings, be they physical or spiritual, we see God. In the Old Testament there was something special and holy about the Sabbath Day. Jesus is God, and as Lord of the Sabbath He shows us what it looks like to enter into fellowship with Him. It looks wonderful and it is wonderful. Now these physical healings were done that they would recognize His Deity. Today not everyone experiences a physical healing while on this earth. But one day in glory, every single child of God gets a perfect body in heaven. I mean there won’t be any need for make-up or gyms. No heartache or headaches. There will not be any nursing homes or hospitals in glory. These miracles point to fellowship with God. Isn’t that the purpose of the Sabbath? God loves our fellowship with Him and each other.

The first miracle, Peter’s mother-in-law gets healed, then immediately begins serving Jesus. There is a fellowship in serving the Lord from gratitude and love.

The second miracle, there is a man there with a “withered hand.” This man was there because of his faith and need. It was a sacrifice because the Pharisees would consider him lame due to some sin. Their hearts were so hard in this story, and Jesus is angered by it. Jesus heals the humble man’s hand. What a joy this individual must have felt as he found God in that synagogue.

The third miracle, I love this miracle because we can all relate. Here is a man blind from birth. That’s a picture of our sin. In this story, this man couldn’t have fellowship with God without His making the first move of grace. With any salvation God always makes the first move, wooing and drawing us to Himself. The bible says, “as Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.” That’s how fellowship with God begins, Jesus came and died for sinners born blind spiritually. He sees us in our darkness and intervenes in our lives offering the gospel of salvation that we might see. 

The fourth miracle, we have a woman in attendance in the synagogue listening to Jesus. Scripture doesn’t indicate that she sought His healing, but simply His presence and teachings. Yet Jesus sees she is there; He knows her heart and faith. She is bent over from possible scoliosis or some other infirmity. But Jesus sees her and chooses to heal her knowing she will use the healing for His glory. At His Word, she raises up for the first time in 18 years. After he heals her the bible says she “glorified God.” There is a sweet fellowship as we glorify Jesus for all of His saving grace, that raised us up into the heavenly places.

The fifth miracle, we have a man with dropsy, fluid build up somewhere in his body. Possibly his legs or around his heart. This man was in the house of one of the rulers of the pharisees. Perhaps he was a friend or relative of this ruler who hung out there for the help. I think his dropsy was to the point he could barely get around, even if at all. Let me explain why. After Jesus heals him, He “let him go.” That’s what Jesus does when we come into fellowship with Him. He takes whatever fear, anxiety or hinderance we have that chains us down in worry. He then breaks those chains by grace and lets us go in the power of His might.

The sixth miracle, we have a dramatic scene, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue and the scribes are blown away by the authority by which He teaches. In the synagogue is a man who is possessed by demons, those demons go nuts in God’s presence and Jesus with one command casts them out of the man. I believe Jesus saved that man right there. Satan cannot possess a believer, but he can attack the believer. There is a great lesson in this miracle. Here we see the power of God’s presence. The sweetest and most powerful fellowship with God we can have is to be “filled with His Spirit” (Eph.5:18) in His presence to the point that evil has no place. Ephesians 5:18 is rightly positioned just prior to chapter six where Paul deals with spiritual warfare. There is nothing like the presence of God and if your going to walk in victory with your feet shod with the gospel and the helmet of salvation then you better learn to practice His presence. Do you pray and meditate in His presence? The scripture says in James 4:8, “draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” To do that requires action on our part.

The seventh miracle, I love this miracle and enjoy preaching it. Here is a man that for 38 years had some kind of infirmity. Here he is surrounded by others who need healing, too. They wait for the angel to touch the waters as God sent him to do at certain times. But this man could never get to the water to be healed. Jesus asked him a question, it’s a legitimate and very important question. Jesus said, “Do you want to be made well?” Now, Jesus healed him right then. The reason so many people remain lost is not because they haven’t heard the gospel but because they don’t want to be made well. They don’t want to get right with God because they don’t want to get rid of sin. Fellowship with God, means we must first agree with Him that we are spiritually sick and in need of spiritual life. We need to want it, seek it and receive it. My guess, this man healed at that pool, walked away and told everyone he saw about his past with a 38 year infirmity and now his new found Savior.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday, we may not be together in physical form at the church, but we are together in our hearts and Savior.

Bro. Bruce Rudd

“And You Shall Call His Name Jesus!”

Matthew 1:19-21

                        ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰ But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Have you ever found yourself in an uninvited crisis? Well, I think Joseph must have initially considered his circumstance as an uninvited crisis. But he will soon realize it’s not a crisis, it’s Christ. Joseph loved Mary, and the one thing he knew was that this baby in Mary’s womb was definitely not his. The real crisis was this world needed a Savior. I love that song Bro. Kevin occasionally leads the choir with that has in its lyrics “Jesus is the answer for the world today.”

Ever since man fell in the garden of Eden there have been uninvited crisis that surprise us when we least expect. Every generation of people and individuals will unfortunately endure unexpected crisis to some degree. It’s inevitable because of the Fall in Genesis chapter three. Disease, death, and suffering all find their source in Adam’s disobedience. Adam’s sin hasn’t done us any favors that’s for sure. Now when we think of Adam, we think of that “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” that God told Adam not to eat from. Yet Adam did, well it was Eve’s fault for wanting to eat-out instead of cooking at home (just kidding).

Well, with that said there are two names in human history we need to know about. The first name I want to talk about is Adam. Because of Adam, a lot of uninvited crisis of suffering, death and disease has come into this world because he fell for Satan’s lies and disobeyed God. The bible tells us in First Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” Adam is an important name to get familiar with. But there is just one more interesting thing you’ve got to see about Adam. If he had no earthly parents, then who named him? Well, God did. The name “Adam” means Mankind (Gen.5:2). God created Adam; he was the very first man on earth. Adam doesn’t need a belly button because there was no momma to button it to. Did you know Adam didn’t have a mother; he was the only man in history without a birth mom? Eve didn’t have a mother in law, but she did have a pretty awesome Father in law.

Adam & Eve are our grandparents. I don’t care who you are or where you live on this planet, Adam & Eve makes us all related, because we all started right there. So here we have Adam, named by God, created by God. Adam was a miracle of creation and you and I are miracles of pro-creation. Jesus was not born by pro-creation but by Supernatural and sinless conception of the Holy Spirit. He is our Immanuel, God with us. He had to take upon Himself our humanity like us but not by procreation. Mary was a virgin, yet pregnant with Jesus. Could you imagine if they could have done a DNA test on the blood of Jesus while He was on this earth? It would have been the biggest news story in history. They might would say, “we can’t trace His blood back to Adam, it’s impossible.” Or they might say, “We’ve never seen anything like this, it’s as if His Father is God.” Jesus did not have one speck of Adams blood in His veins. He came as 100% God and yet 100% Man. He came that those born once under Adam could be born again under Christ. Jesus came to remove us from a family tree of death to place us in a family tree of life. In Jesus we have a new family head. We have a new birth in Christ that comes with a holy nature instead of a sinful nature, which our first birth gave us.

Don’t miss a hidden lesson here in our last two verses. What Joseph initially viewed as an uninvited crisis turned out to be the greatest news imaginable. The angel gives the best sonogram mankind has ever heard. I mean, in Mary’s womb was the most important birth (conceived of the Holy Spirit). The most important Person (Son). The most important name (you shall call His name Jesus). And lastly, the most important purpose in human history (He will save His people from their sins). No wonder, “There’s just something about that name!”

Two names, Adam and Jesus! Which of these two names do you identify with? You and I are born naturally under Adam in sin. But there is hope, Jesus said in John 3:3, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Praise God we get another chance to be born, not naturally but spiritually. In the natural birth, we connect to Adam. But in the spiritual we connect to Jesus. Can you say today, “I am identified with the Lord Jesus. I have His name in my heart. I have His name in my songs. I’m not afraid, I belong to Jesus and He belongs to me.”

The overarching goal at Mt. Sylvan is that you will open your heart to the good news Jesus brings. When you do, it brings Him glory like nothing else can. There is uncertainty in this world. But there is certainty in Christ.

Consider:

Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe and we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.

Jesus was born once that we might be born twice.

Whose name do you identify with, Adam or Jesus?

Hymn/ Jesus Paid It All.

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Bro. Bruce Rudd

Well, what is taking place is nothing new, it stems from a humanistic worldview instead of a biblical worldview. However, we are losing our edge by compromising with sin. Fortunately, there is still hope because God is paying attention to His church and our obedience to Him. God can change the course of a nation based on our obedience, not the worlds. In fact, because we serve a risen King, the world will always be opposed to our faith. Jesus said they would. In John 17, Jesus prayed that God would protect us from the evil one. We are living in the world but are not to become of the world. The bible says that our “war is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm” (Eph.6:12)  Also, read II Corinthians 10:3-6. Another reason there is still hope is because our obedience is to Christ not the ways of the world. This is too important to miss. We have done a great job at telling our kids how bad the world is. However we must also tip the scales by telling our kids how great our God is. The bible says “be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” Rom.12:21. If the next generation is going to be prepared to stand for Christ during perilous times then we need to teach them what it means to “be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Rom.12:2. I urge you to draw strength and courage to continue living for Jesus even when others around you may not share your values. As you follow the Lord with loving hearts, unbelievers will be drawn to the Savior. In fact, when the church is unified and happy and praising God with lives that are holy and pleasing to God, lost people get interested in God. Hebrews 10:25 brings this out.

Within this short 8 chapter book called “Song of Solomon”, we find the biblical pattern of love. The book is a song written by Solomon filled with oriental imagery and metaphors. There is much I want to say about this great book, but for now, let’s focus on one verse.

Notice the little foxes didn’t show up until the vineyard was at full bloom. The little foxes described are not the mature older foxes, but the smaller immature younger foxes. They enter the vineyard at full bloom and they want to play. They are pulling on the blooms and making havoc of the vines as they play. The mature foxes aren’t interested in any of that. Right now as a church we are “full bloom”.  Sometimes we began to get lazy with our walk in Christ and before you know it, where we once were walking in spiritual maturity, we suddenly find ourselves acting immature spiritually. That little fox of pride takes off in our mind and we get offended or we offend someone else we love. That little fox of anger jumps right out of our mouth hurting those we love most. That little fox of jealousy starts gossiping and starts exaggerating an issue to hurt the other person or bring them down. These are the little sins of immaturity that Satan uses to erode our relationships. So how do we catch those little critters? Well, we can’t on our own, but Christ can. When a few of those little foxes get loose and begin to harm your relationships, tell it to Jesus. Get His forgiveness!  Then, if you offended the other person or they offended you,, go to them in a Galatians 6:1 spirit and get things right. Remember the issue is not about winning the argument; the issue is restoring the relationship. Christ knows truth perfectly, yet He is so patient with you and me. How often we think we understand a matter, yet from the eyes of Jesus we could be so far off. So, if Jesus is patient with us, than we should be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s watch out for those little foxes and end 2016 the way we ended 2015 at Mt. Sylvan…in a Spirit of unity and love. Take note that the little foxes do the most harm when the vineyard is in full bloom.! Right now our church is in full bloom. It loves, it’s forgiving, and it’s filled with the presence of God. So let’s catch the little sins of our heart and ask God to fill us with love, patience, and joy…esteeming others higher than ourselves. Happy New Year!  Bro Bruce Rudd  

• Prior to salvation we are trusting in ourselves, our own wisdom or way; but after salvation we demonstrate, by our faith in Jesus, that our trust has shifted from self to Christ.

• Now this is important, apart from the word of God we wouldn’t know truth or God’s will or His ways.  Man, without God, thinks he knows everything; he doesn’t care about what God has to say because he thinks he has something to say that’s more important.
• But God says in Romans 3:4 “…Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.”
• Now that is the problem with unbelief.  Unbelief says I am right, listen to me!
• But faith says, No!  Let God be true, but every man a liar.

• Here we have God telling Ezekiel that the folks really don’t have any faith, that the truth is, their hearts are pursuing their own gain.  That takes us right back to Romans 3:4.  It is so hard for man to just say “Let God be true” and then walk in those truths.

• Unbelief is where we always stumble and miss what God wants to show us.  Like the Hebrews, God has done everything in His power to show us He is faithful and loves us.
• Perhaps today or tomorrow you will be at a crossroads in your walk.  Will you hang on to God’s word believing what He says to the point you will make decisions as though your prayers have already been answered?  If so, you will wait on God and not get ahead of Him trusting in His answer even before it comes.
• Read James 1:21-25, “Be a doer of the word and watch your life of faith come alive.”