Sermons – Page 11 – Somerset Church of Christ

May 17, 2023

Be Hospitable

positive waitress carrying plate with delicious food

The word for hospitable comes from sandwiching two words together–friend and stranger. The word for friend is philos, which is where we get the word “brotherly love.” A “philos” was someone you loved as a brother or friend. This word, combined with the word for stranger, is translated “hospitable,” but quite literally means to be friendly towards strangers.

Romans 12:13 ESV says, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” 1 Peter 4:9 says, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” And in 1 Timothy 5:10, a widow could be enrolled to receive help if she is no less than sixty, had one husband, and “having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.”

We often think of being hospitable as opening up our homes to friends and strangers. While this can be part of hospitality, the truest meaning is simply to be friendly to strangers–to treat them as a neighbor. Jesus epitomized hospitality throughout his ministry, including calling his disciples. When he called the Galilean women, they were strangers in need of a kind hand: “And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means” (Luke 8:1-3).

Jesus constantly showed hospitality and demonstrated how his followers should do the same.

May 10, 2023

Rachel, Israel’s Mother

ethnic woman in traditional outfit praying on cemetery

Jacob’s wife Rachel struggled to have children of her own. When she finally was able, she had Joseph and then Benjamin. It was Benjamin’s birth that brought Rachel’s death. As she was dying she named him Ben-oni, which means son of my sorrow (or son of my strength). Jacob renamed him to Benjamin, which means son of my right hand.

Jacob buried her on the way to what would later be called Bethlehem: “So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day” (Genesis 35:19, 20 ESV). Rachel’s tomb, in fact, is still there to this day. According to the Midrash, Joseph was the only son of Jacob who prayed at Rachel’s tomb.

When the Israelites were in exile, they would pass by Rachel’s tomb, stop, and pray to God. 70 years later they returned from exile. Rachel epitomizes what a true mother looks like. She died a woman of honor through a very difficult labor. She was selfless and had deep concern for her sons. The Jewish people still honor her to this day, some 4,000 years after she died.

May 2, 2023

Start Children off The Way They Should Go

Proverbs 22:6 says to “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Some translations say “start children off the way they should go.” Starting them off on the right foot spiritually plays a vital role in their future success. What we teach them about life, church, commitment, and will to serve will determine the direction they move in the future.

One time we had to do a family tree as a project for a psychology class in graduate school. At first it seemed like busy work. We had to fill in ever family member, both distant and immediate, that we could think of. Then we had to talk about personality traits. Once we completed it our professor told us that each tree we did tells the story of how we got here and, to a large degree, why we behave the way we behave.

I always thought I was incredibly independent and that few people have a big influence on me, but once I took a closer look at the family tree a very clear pattern emerged. The way we think about people, ourselves, our work ethic, our habits. . . most of this is influenced by our environment and what we were taught growing up. So starting our children off on the way they should go is very, very important and will mark out much of their future for them.

April 28, 2023

Families In the New Testament

Perhaps surprisingly there are very few mentions of families in the New Testament. We know virtually nothing about the Apostles’ families–which of them had wives and children or not. We know that Peter, James, and “other apostles” did: “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” (1 Cor. 9:5). Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law when she had a bad fever (Luke 4:38, 39).

Mary and Martha appear to be single and we don’t know whether their brother Lazarus was married or not. We hear about the 84 year old widow prophetess Anna who prayed at the temple day and night. We can probably assume she had no children. Timothy, who became a prominent evangelist, was the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father: “A disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek” (Acts 16:1). This marriage arrangement was forbidden (Deut. 7:3-4), yet Paul took Timothy along and mentored him to be an evangelist.

Timothy may have remained single. In fact, the same is true of Barnabas, Silas, and Titus. We know for sure that Paul was single. The Samaritan woman at the well had five previous husbands and was with a current man when Jesus spoke to her. We have no idea if, or how many, children she might have had. The Bible doesn’t say. But she evangelized an entire village. There is no such thing as a “typical family” described in the New Testament. Like today, some families were divided. Some married. Some didn’t. Some were divorced or widowed. But God used them all to do his kingdom work!

April 20, 2023

Honor Your Parents

Do we set our children up to succeed in life? Paul told the children in the Ephesian church to “obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Eph. 6:1 ESV). Paul is obviously not talking about abusive parents because he qualifies that it should be “in the Lord.” Paul goes on to say, “This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go will with you and that you may live long in the land” (vs. 2, 3).

One word comes to mind in the family that Paul describes: stability. Remember that Jesus said all the law and the prophets hinge on the two greatest commandments to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. When we learn love, we obey. When we obey God people take care of each other because that’s what love is.

We set our kids up for blessing and success when we teach them to do what is right, to follow God’s commandments. Our children have all the potential in the world to grow into highly loving, successful kingdom-builders! The best way to help them succeed is to teach them to honor God.

April 12, 2023

God Gave the Growth

Paul addressed divisions in the church in Corinth and in the process he describes quite well how God provides the increase in His church. Paul’s demonstrating what can and should happen when people are unified in purpose. Paul said, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants or waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:5-7 ESV).

Paul says that he who plants and he who waters are one, and each receives his own reward for the work they did. When we look at the very early church after Christ ascended, it grew quite rapidly. The church today is still in a fast decline and we could easily model what the early disciples did to plant and water. Afterall, God is still the one who gives the growth. The early disciples did not have a goal of reaching masses. In fact, they often traveled to small towns and villages to preach. But they still planted and watered. And God gave the growth.

This message is very important for us as families, because we can (and should) work together to plant and water. Our theme this quarter is God and family. There’s no better way to connect to God than to work together to bring people closer to God. There are ample opportunities to do so too. If we really believe that it is God, not us, who provides the growth then we will easily share the Good News with people and see what God does with that!

April 6, 2023

The Empty Tomb

The resurrection of Christ will be celebrated across the world this coming Easter Sunday. John’s account of the resurrection is very telling. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb before the sun had come up but saw that the stone had been moved. She ran and told Peter and John, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him” (John 20:2 ESV). Peter and John ran to the tomb, only to find it empty. John said that once inside the tomb, he believed.

John remembered that Jesus had been talking about raising from the dead but “they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (vs. 9). Seeing the linens made the lightbulb turn on and John immediately believed. He and Peter ran home. This is interesting and important. They didn’t run to tell the other disciples. Instead they ran home to be with their families.

It appears that Mary wasn’t quite as convinced. She stood at the entrance to the tomb weeping. She saw two angels sitting where Jesus’ body once was. When they asked her why she was weeping, she said, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him” (vs. 13). It wasn’t until Jesus revealed himself to her in person that she believed. It was her, not Peter and John, who went an told the other disciples! This is, by far, the most important story for us as Christians. Paul says that if the resurrection didn’t happen then “our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). But we know that the resurrection did happen and therefore we have hope, confidence, and salvation!