Exploring Faith: Gratitude, Worship, and Holistic Salvation

 

Summary

In reflecting on my journey as a pastor and teacher, I am reminded of the profound ways God has guided my path. From my early days at Yorkshire Free Methodist Church to my time teaching Greek and youth ministries, each step has been a testament to God's faithfulness. Today, as we engage in Open Questions Week, we delve into the richness of scripture and the complexities of faith. This tradition allows us to explore the depths of our beliefs and the historical context of biblical events, such as the psalms and the life of David. The psalms, with their emotional depth and musical heritage, remind us of the power of worship and reflection in our spiritual journey.

We also discussed the historical inaccuracies in our calendar system and how they affect our understanding of biblical timelines. This serves as a reminder of the importance of seeking truth and understanding in our faith. The story of the ten lepers in Luke 17 highlights the transformative power of gratitude and faith. It challenges us to recognize the blessings in our lives and respond with thankfulness, much like the Samaritan leper who returned to Jesus.

The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the prophecy of Jeremiah serve as sobering reminders of the consequences of turning away from God. They call us to examine our own lives and ensure that our faith is genuine and not merely a ritual. The questions raised about the nature of salvation and healing in the story of the lepers invite us to consider the holistic nature of God's work in our lives—cleansing, healing, and restoring us to wholeness.

As we close, I am reminded of my own journey to faith, marked by questions and a deep longing for truth. It is a testament to the work of the Holy Spirit, who draws us to God in ways we cannot always understand. May we continue to seek, question, and grow in our faith, trusting in God's timing and purpose for our lives.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Journey of Faith: Our spiritual journey is marked by growth and learning, as seen in my transition from youth pastor to Greek scholar. Each step is a testament to God's guidance and faithfulness, reminding us to trust in His plan for our lives. [00:47]

2. The Power of Worship: The psalms, with their emotional depth and musical heritage, teach us the importance of worship and reflection. They remind us that worship is not just about music but about connecting deeply with God through our emotions and experiences. [05:58]

3. Gratitude and Faith: The story of the ten lepers in Luke 17 highlights the transformative power of gratitude. It challenges us to recognize the blessings in our lives and respond with thankfulness, much like the Samaritan leper who returned to Jesus. [21:47]

4. Historical Context and Faith: Understanding the historical context of biblical events, such as the destruction of Jerusalem, helps us grasp the gravity of turning away from God. It calls us to examine our own faith and ensure it is genuine and not merely ritualistic. [14:03]

5. The Holistic Nature of Salvation: The story of the lepers invites us to consider the holistic nature of God's work in our lives—cleansing, healing, and restoring us to wholeness. It reminds us that salvation is not just about being saved from sin but being made whole in Christ. [25:02]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:47] - Journey of Faith
- [03:12] - Understanding the Psalms
- [04:11] - Hebrew Language Insights
- [05:58] - Emotional Depth of Psalms
- [10:09] - Historical Calendar Context
- [11:52] - Talmudic Teachings
- [14:03] - Destruction of Jerusalem
- [18:09] - Genuine Faith vs. Ritual
- [19:22] - Open Questions
- [20:29] - Story of the Ten Lepers
- [21:47] - Gratitude and Healing
- [23:24] - Greek Language Insights
- [25:02] - Holistic Salvation
- [29:28] - Personal Faith Journey

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
1. Luke 17:11-19 - The story of the ten lepers.
2. Jeremiah 7 - Prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem.
3. Psalms - Various references to the emotional depth and musical heritage.

---

Observation Questions:

1. In Luke 17, what actions did the ten lepers take when they encountered Jesus, and what was the outcome for them? [20:29]
2. How does the sermon describe the historical context of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and what was its significance? [14:03]
3. What role do the psalms play in worship according to the sermon, and how are they connected to music? [05:58]
4. How does the pastor describe his personal journey of faith and the role of questions in that journey? [29:28]

---

Interpretation Questions:

1. What does the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17 teach about the nature of gratitude and faith, and how does it relate to the concept of being made whole? [21:47]
2. How does understanding the historical context of biblical events, like the destruction of Jerusalem, deepen one's faith and prevent it from becoming merely ritualistic? [14:03]
3. In what ways do the psalms encourage believers to connect with God emotionally, and why is this important for spiritual growth? [05:58]
4. How does the pastor's journey from youth pastor to Greek scholar illustrate the concept of trusting in God's plan for one's life? [00:47]

---

Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you experienced a significant blessing. How did you express gratitude, and how might you deepen your practice of thankfulness in your daily life? [21:47]
2. Consider the historical context of your own faith journey. Are there moments when you have turned away from God, and what were the consequences? How can you ensure your faith remains genuine? [14:03]
3. The psalms teach us about the power of worship. How can you incorporate more emotional depth into your worship practices, whether through music or other forms of expression? [05:58]
4. The pastor shared his journey of faith marked by questions and a longing for truth. What questions are you currently wrestling with in your faith, and how can you seek answers? [29:28]
5. How can you apply the holistic nature of salvation, as seen in the story of the lepers, to your own life? In what areas do you need God's cleansing, healing, and restoration? [25:02]
6. Reflect on the pastor's transition from academia to pastoral ministry. Are there areas in your life where you need to trust God's guidance and timing more fully? [00:47]
7. How can you use the lessons from the destruction of Jerusalem to examine and strengthen your own faith practices, ensuring they are not just rituals but genuine expressions of belief? [14:03]

Devotional

Day 1: Trusting God's Guidance in Our Spiritual Journey
In our spiritual journey, each step we take is a testament to God's guidance and faithfulness. From the early days of exploring faith to more advanced stages of understanding, every experience is a part of God's plan for our lives. This journey is not always straightforward, but it is marked by growth and learning. As we reflect on our own paths, we are reminded to trust in God's timing and purpose, knowing that He is leading us towards a deeper relationship with Him. [00:47]

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you struggle to trust God's plan? How can you actively choose to trust Him more in this area today?


Day 2: The Depth of Worship Through the Psalms
The psalms offer a profound insight into the emotional depth and musical heritage of worship. They teach us that worship is not merely about music but about connecting deeply with God through our emotions and experiences. The psalms invite us to bring our whole selves before God, expressing joy, sorrow, gratitude, and longing. As we engage with these ancient songs, we are reminded of the power of worship to transform our hearts and draw us closer to God. [05:58]

"Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants." (Isaiah 42:10, ESV)

Reflection: How can you incorporate the emotional depth of the psalms into your personal worship time this week? What specific emotions do you need to bring before God in worship?


Day 3: Gratitude as a Transformative Force
The story of the ten lepers in Luke 17 highlights the transformative power of gratitude. When the Samaritan leper returned to thank Jesus, he demonstrated a heart of gratitude that went beyond mere healing. This story challenges us to recognize the blessings in our lives and respond with thankfulness. Gratitude has the power to change our perspective, deepen our faith, and draw us closer to God. As we cultivate a heart of gratitude, we open ourselves to the transformative work of God in our lives. [21:47]

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV)

Reflection: Identify three specific blessings in your life today. How can you express gratitude for these blessings in a tangible way?


Day 4: Understanding Faith Through Historical Context
Understanding the historical context of biblical events, such as the destruction of Jerusalem, helps us grasp the gravity of turning away from God. These events serve as sobering reminders of the consequences of disobedience and the importance of genuine faith. As we study the historical context of scripture, we are called to examine our own faith and ensure it is not merely ritualistic but deeply rooted in a relationship with God. This understanding challenges us to live out our faith authentically and with conviction. [14:03]

"Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe." (Hebrews 12:28, ESV)

Reflection: How can understanding the historical context of a specific biblical event deepen your faith today? What steps can you take to ensure your faith is genuine and not just a ritual?


Day 5: Embracing the Holistic Nature of Salvation
The story of the lepers invites us to consider the holistic nature of God's work in our lives—cleansing, healing, and restoring us to wholeness. Salvation is not just about being saved from sin but being made whole in Christ. This holistic approach to salvation reminds us that God is interested in every aspect of our lives, seeking to bring healing and restoration. As we embrace this understanding, we are encouraged to seek God's transformative work in all areas of our lives, trusting in His power to make us whole. [25:02]

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." (1 Peter 5:10, ESV)

Reflection: In what area of your life do you need God's healing and restoration today? How can you invite Him to work in this area and trust in His holistic salvation?

Quotes

"During college and seminary, I set myself to become a Greek scholar. My original desire was to be a professor at college and teach, university level. I did that. I had 29 years of doing that at Roberts Wesleyan as an adjunct. I did youth ministries. When my Greek professor, Stan McGill, had a heart attack on my daughter's second birthday, actually, October 16, 1984, he could not teach from that day. He was doing all the beginning and all the advanced Greek plus Bible courses. I had already been teaching there for a year. They asked me if I would take over the Greek department, so I did that for five years. My dream was fulfilled. I realized I really hate collegiate level politics and all that stuff. I was so glad I was a pastor and not a university professor." [00:47:30] (53 seconds)


"Today is Open Questions Week. We determined quite a long time ago that if there was a fifth Sunday in a month, that only occurs four times a week, if there's a fifth Sunday, we would make that open questions. Ask anything you want. We did that for quite a few years. As time went by, we had fewer and fewer people asking any questions that were good questions. We didn't do it. We've done it on occasion. Some of you remember that. Some of you don't. Today is a fifth Sunday. It's my last week. Josh is gone. Everybody was here for Christmas last week. Now the faithful and diligent people came back. And the people had nothing else to do in life. So all you losers are here today." [01:08:80] (46 seconds)


"The psalms are sung to music. And if you read the part that doesn't have a verse number, we call them by numbers. They didn't call them that. They call them by the first line of the psalm. So if you look at the underneath the number, let me just flip open to one just for fun. Psalm 106. It doesn't have one. It has a reference to there. So Psalm 81. And then below it, above verse 1, it says, for the director of music, according to Gittith. And you all know Gittith, right? They knew what it meant back then. It could be according to a syncopation. It's four -four time. It's, seven, eight. I mean, who knows what that meant? But they knew what Gittith was." [03:36:66] (52 seconds)


"And then it says, a song of Asaph. So Asaph may have been the actual guy who crafted it. He could have been an amanuensis to David. And then when David said things or he wrote the music, Asaph was the one that recorded that and kept that straight. So it's likely that after they were in the crisis, moment, David has time as king of Israel with reflection and a whole staff that he can write down what it is. What's interesting in English, it's really hard to look at a psalm and remember all of those words. But in Hebrew, it's very clear and very simple. Hebrew also only has 7,000 words in a vocabulary. I think English has something like 168,000 words." [04:24:28] (55 seconds)


"And where English makes a poem by rhyming words, you do various counts of the endings of the words. Hebrew does it by concepts. So it'll make a statement, make the opposite statement, make the same statement, make the opposite statement in a double negative. And then like the whole psalm is that way. So it's kind of easy to remember how those pieces fit into a storyline. But then it's also possible that afterwards David says, let me reflect what I was really thinking in that moment. And there is a lot of emotional content and the emotion sets up how they're going to act, what they're going, why are they going to do what they do." [05:26:80] (52 seconds)


"The challenge with things like from Talmud, Talmud is a theological reflection, written by people, and I don't mean this meanly, but it was written to prove a point. So, if you didn't have any support for what you believed, there would be a rabbi who would write it down. It would become part of Talmudic teaching, and you say, okay, so rabbi so-and-so said, and that proves it. He said, well, he said it, so it would prove it. But that's how it worked." [11:52:24] (34 seconds)


"And so, when you have something like the... I've never heard the thing about the ribbon turning white or red, and the scapegoat. Jesus probably was crucified in the year 29 to 32, somewhere in there, 29 to 32. We do know that the Romans came in, and they had had enough of Jewish rebellion. That they came in in 70 A.D., the summer of 70 A.D., and eliminated Jerusalem, scraped it off the top of the hill. It was gone. Here, we build our villages near water, because nobody really liked fetching water from a really far distance away." [12:26:32] (42 seconds)


"When the Romans came in, they had had enough of Jewish rebellion. It had been going on since 165, when the Maccabeans revolted and all that stuff going on. And so, they came in with a gigantic army and a whole bunch of slaves, and they just wiped the entire... They dismantled every building, they burned everything burnable. And they... Just destroyed the city. But what they couldn't do is when Solomon built the temple and the platform on which the temple sat, they put the foundation stones so deep in the ground, there was no way they could pull them out. It just was not possible. So, they took the building down, threw it into the valley or crushed it, and then left the base of the temple." [14:55:26] (52 seconds)


"And now, that's the Wailing Wall that has been uncovered, and you can go to that and touch those stones. And those stones are six, seven, eight, nine feet tall and massive. And what Solomon did was he built this foundation and then built the wall up on that. So, then everything was enclosed. So, when the temple was gone in 70 AD, there's about 36 years, 35, 36 years. The scapegoat was done once a year at the Day of Atonement. And so, what happened and how that happened and what the... It's not biblical. It's a Talmudic teaching that there's this ribbon and the scapegoat. The scapegoat is biblical, but even though it was written in Scripture, they did not do what the Scripture required frequently." [15:46:78] (55 seconds)


"And in Jeremiah 7, God says to Judah, who is hedging on blasphemy and outright idolatrous sin, He says to them, Look at Shiloh and look at what I did there. I'm going to do that to your temple in Jerusalem because you're worse than they were. That's what Jeremiah's prophecy is. And so, He says, Look at what happened to them and I'm going to do the same thing to you. That was in 590 BC. It had been 150 years since Shiloh was obliterated from the earth. And the temple was damaged and destroyed in 586, but rebuilt after the exile. And the one that was rebuilt, Zerubbabel's temple, Herod was adjusting it. That's the one that was destroyed in 780 and has never come back." [17:10:70] (59 seconds)


"So the question is about the lepers that were healed by Jesus. Ten of them were healed and only one came. And they came back to say thank you. And so the question, what did you say? What chapter did you say? Anybody have their technology open that can find the ten lepers? See, if I was really good, I would know the answer to this. Luke 17, chapter 17? A beggar. 17 what? Oh, Jesus heals ten men with leprosy. On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. And as he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. When he saw them, he said, go show yourselves to the priests." [20:09:34] (75 seconds)


"And as they went, they were cleansed. Is that the first word? One of them came back and when he saw that he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice, he threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan, which adds a whole different layer of controversy to the story. Jesus said, we're not all ten, we're not all ten cleansed. Is that the same? That's the same word that was used at the beginning. Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, rise and go, your faith has made you well. So that's it." [21:24:46] (44 seconds)


Chatbot

  • I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Jan 11, 2025. Do you have any questions about it?

Transcript
What was the most surprising thing in this sermon?
Were there any personal stories shared?