Last Sunday we talked about having a place where you could post all of your comments about what you read in the Bible that week. Use this as a tool to be able to share with each other. Just go to Youth Ministry and one of the scroll down sites is “Bible Readings”.
Archive for category Pastor Bryon
Bible Readings
Dec 19
Peace – 2 Peter 3.8-15
Dec 9
Friends,
What is peace on earth? We talk about it, pray for it, even protest for it, but what is it? I believe peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of Christ and His grace. Conflict is virtually unavoidable in our world, so the question is not how do we get rid of it, but how do we get through it? My hope this past Sunday was to get us to think about how we can achieve peace with God through a relationship with Christ, and how that should flow out and encourage us to seek peace with others through our relationship with Christ. 2 Peter 3.14 asks us to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him when He returns. Can we really be at peace with Him if we are not at peace with our fellow brothers and sisters?
I hope you have a wonderful, redeeming relationship with Jesus Christ, that is certainly paramount to our relationships. But how are you letting that flow out of you and be a part of your relationships here on earth? With family, church members, co-workers, neighbors? My hope is that we will come closer to finding peace with these persons so that we might move closer to finding peace on earth. God Bless!
Scriptures Referenced:
- 2 Peter 3.8-15
- Mark 5.34
- Luke 1.79, 2.14, 19.38
- John 14.27
- Acts 10.36
- Romans 5.1, 8.6, 14.19
- 2 Corinthians 13.11
- Galatians 5.22
- Ephesians 2.14-18, 4.3
- Colossians 3.15
- Hebrews 12.14
Friends,
What a blessing to be in worship this morning! And what a blessing to have my grandparents take part. In my sermon I wanted to challenge us to look at the three basic statements of the master (Jesus) in this passage in Mark. These are: 1) I’m leaving, 2) I’m coming back, 3) Be faithful and do what you are supposed to until I return. From there I believe we need to be looking for and receptive to the presence of Christ coming into our lives this Christmas season. It may happen in a variety of ways, and when we miss these blessings, it is almost always because we were not looking for them. Please remember that I will have a book out next week for you to write down and share when Christmas happens for you.
Scriptures Referenced:
- Mark 13.32-37
- Luke 18.8
- Isaiah 64.1-8
- 1 Corinthians 1.3-9
- 1 Timothy 4.1, 16
Friends,
Sorry a little late on this one. My sermon this past Sunday was an attempt to get us to avoid becoming too negative in the world around us. With all the news about war, economy, etc., I worried that we would get caught up in all this and forget the promises of God and the joy and thankfulness we are called to have in Him. Jeremiah watched his city ransacked, and yet he still looked to the Lord and was trusting in His mercy and faithfulness. How about you?
Scriptures referenced:
- Lamentations 3.19-26
- Jeremiah 29.4-23
- John 16.33
- 1 Thessalonians 5.18
- James 1.2-3
Friends,
What a morning! What a blessing to be in God’s house! I looked at Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve and the serpent are judged, cursed, and cast out of the Garden of Eden. In our own lives and faith, we are either moving away from God through our sin (going) or we are growing closer to Him through our maturing faith (coming). My 3 points:
- Are you going? Are you living in sin absent a relationship with Jesus Christ? Just as Adam and Eve through their disobedience were driven out (and away) from God, so too we are moving away from Him when we persist in our sinful disobedience.
- Are you coming? Are you a believer, having truly repented and been baptized into a community of faith? 2 Peter 3.18 tells us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our lives should be lived in the constant pursuit of knowing Christ and growing in Christ each and every day.
- If you are coming, if you are a believer, how are you influencing others? Does your life and witness cause them to move closer to faith in God (coming) or are you driving them away (going)? Too often we get comfortable, thinking that we are saved and have little left to do. That in itself is wrong, but how much worse to consider that because of our negative or hypocritical example of faith we might keep others from coming into the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ?
Scriptures Referenced:
- Genesis 3.8-24
- Isaiah 59.2
- Matthew 7.13-14
- Luke 17.1-3
- Romans 5.18-19, 6.23, 10.9-10, 12.17
- 1 Corinthians 10.31-32
- 2 Corinthians 5.16-21
- Ephesians 2.1-2
- Hebrews 6.4-12
- Revelations 21.25
Your thoughts?
Mid-Week Musings 11-13-08
Nov 14
MID-WEEK MUSINGS 11.13.08
Friends,
Well, how are you doing today? Seriously, how are you? Watch the news, and they’ll tell you how bad the economy is. And the number of piracy attacks east of Africa is rising. And there is still no cure for cancer. And childhood-obesity is rising. And the auto industry is collapsing. And the war in Iraq. And the war in Afghanistan. And job losses are rising. And…well, you can fill in the rest, can’t you?
Now bring it closer to home…what do you know about the greater Big Island area? I can think of words like cancer, unemployed, poor, hungry, lonely, ill, stressed, etc. Think of all the problems we have here just in Big Island! I mean, you could name them, couldn’t you? So, what do we do about it? What are you doing about it?
I was listening to someone on the radio yesterday, and was reminded that just to take a breath, just to be alive is a tremendous blessing. I don’t know about you, but I needed to hear that. I am keenly aware of so many burdens in our community right now. In fact, at times it is suffocating to the point I don’t know which way to turn. With all the bad news in the world, what can you do? With all the bad news in Big Island, what can you do? And this is the danger…we get caught up in all the bad news, we just figure there’s nothing we can do, so let’s just be down.
And yet, if we are believers, if we are Christians, if we are truly alive in Christ, I mean truly alive in Christ, then shouldn’t we have some joy right there?! No one who finds life in Christ in the scriptures walked away sad. Is it possible to truly have Christ in your heart and be sad? Yes, but…does that mean we live in that world? Do you know anyone that can find the negative in anything? Have you had times in your life when no matter what was going on, you found yourself feeling down about everything? I know I have. And yet, as I have listened to all the doom and gloom over the economy, the world, the election, the church, and everything else, I find myself caught up a little in it, and then I get mad at myself for letting this pull me down.
So today, Thursday, while it is cloudy and rainy and gloomy and you can think of all the things going wrong in your life, think about one other thing…”Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…” – 1 Peter 1.8 (NIV)
I’ll be preaching on Genesis 3.8-24 and asking the question “Are You Coming or Going?” Hope to see you there!
Blessings
Pastor Bryon
Friends,
Good evening! Hope each of you has a blessed week. My goal this morning was to look at the story of Adam and Eve in the garden and what is now known as The Fall. From this scripture, we can that there are several steps that lead humans through temptation and then sin. How we understand this can influence how we seek to win the battle against Satan and his temptations.
Consider how the battle begins with an influence outside of us, then a debate and struggle goes on within us. If we lose, and we sin, then we must deal with the consequential guilt. It is for this reason that Christ came into this world, to show us that as He did, we can overcome this world if we fully trust in Him. Also, realize that Christ, though fully divine, was also fully human and endured every trial and temptation that we do. Your thoughts?
Scriptures Referenced:
- Genesis 3.1-8
- 1 Kings 8.46-50
- Numbers 32.23, Psalm 51, Daniel 9.5
- Matthew 4.1, 6.13, 9.13
- 1 Corinthians 10.13
- Hebrews 2.18, 4.15
- John 1.29
- James 1.13-14
- Romans 3.23
Mid-Week Musings 11-6-08
Nov 7
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MID-WEEK MUSINGS 11.6.08
Friends,
I attended a funeral service today for one of my children/youth at my former church in Richmond. She was 22. Melissa died Saturday, and leaves 2 small children behind. I hadn’t seen her in years, but I still find myself missing her. She was full of life, and now she is gone.
But let me share this, too. I talked with her older brother, who is very introverted. Yet, he caught me for a minute and told me what he had done. He still had a cross that he had made for some craft project at church when he wasn’t even a teenager yet. He put that in Melissa’s hands in the casket. Wow! How many crafts do we do with our kids, and just smile and move on, not even giving it much thought. At least, I know I have done this before. Yet, for Melissa’s brother it was something that was important enough to leave with his sister gone too soon. As I drove into Richmond yesterday, the sun was going down, a little drizzle was drifting away, a few clouds remained, and a wonderful rainbow shined forth right in front of me.
“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3.22-23 (NIV)
God is so good; and He speaks to us in such a variety of mysterious, yet beautiful ways. I needed to hear Melissa’s brother’s story. I needed to see that rainbow. I needed to hug some of my former kids and cry a little with them. I needed to listen to a word from God through Tabernacle’s pastor Sterling. I needed to hug Melissa’s grandmother, who is so special to me. I needed to sit next to my first senior pastor as a staff member and be reminded of the great privilege I’ve had to be a part of so many special peoples’ lives. I needed to see Melissa lying in peace, trusting that she was safely in the arms of God now.
I needed this and so much more. God is good. No, God is awesome. And this Sunday I get to walk into the sanctuary of Big Island Baptist Church and join my church family in worshiping that awesome, merciful, loving God. Hope to see you there…
Blessings
Pastor Bryon
This morning I looked at the story of God creating Adam, and then creating Eve not out of nothing but from Adam. So essentially in the story of Creation only Adam and Eve are created from something already in existence. As we look at God’s creational design for marriage, we see underlying values like a servant-heart, love, forgiveness, and humility. These same values can and should translate to our own Christian faith in the church. Just as we hold marriage to be important, Christ and His relationship to the Church should cause us to value our relationship to the church more strongly.
Because Christ sacrificed everything for His bride, the church, so should we expect husbands to sacrifice for their families to set a Christ-like example. Likewise, because of Christ’s relationship to the church, we should do our part to strengthen, grow, and serve the church as a partner with Christ in the Kingdom of God.
Your thoughts?
Scripture Referenced:
- Genesis 2.18-24
- Colossians 1.15-20
- Ephesians 5.22ff
Mid-Week Musings 10.29.08
Oct 30
Friends,
Well, get this. The team with the most losses in Major League Baseball history, my favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies, are now World Series Champions!!! Yes, they earned their 10,000th loss earlier this season, and now they are champions! I couldn’t help but think of Matthew 20.16, “The last shall be first…”
I can honestly say I have been a Phillies fan for a good 20 years, but this is the first time I have been able to celebrate them like this. I have already spoken with a few friends online and we have reveled over our victory.
I have only been to 2 Phillies games in my lifetime, own a hat and a stuffed Phanatic, and a few other random Phillies things. I’ve never been on the team or a part of the organization. So why do I celebrate? Because thru the years (and many losing seasons) I’ve stayed with them, knowing our time would come, and now I can shout along with the team.
You know, church life has its own ups and downs thru the years. Some times are great, and others seem more challenging than others. And yet, we are all in this together. Even when a church is struggling, it is best when they see their struggle as a corporate struggle, where they all need to work together to move it forward in a better direction. In the same way, when there are times to celebrate, the whole church should feel joy at the wonderful movement of the Spirit happening at that time.
One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Corinthians 12.26 – “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” In the church, when we experience each thing as a full community of faith, we will always be better off. Too often we compartmentalize the different parts of the church and don’t see our connection with the whole. What could happen if the whole church felt responsible for each challenge and joy of the church’s life? I believe our spiritual lives are far more intertwined than we realize. What do you think? How much, or what percentage, of the church do you feel truly connected to?
Sunday I’ll be preaching from the second half of Genesis 2 and talking about marriage. Hope to see you there!
Blessings
Pastor Bryon
