The Game of Life

Life is not a game even when it may feel like it.

How much of our lives are effected by the govt.?

The one issue that God gives responsibility to the government is dealing with crime and punishment.

Romans 13:1-7

4th Commandment

The argument against capital punishment in society and in religion:

Religion:
God doesn’t want retribution
God is a God of love
God wants restoration

Society:
Doesn’t solve the problem of killing
Should not be used as vengeance
Cost to much
Other reasons


What we believe in our doctrine(belief system):
God has instituted the government that we live under.
God has given the government the responsibility to maintain law and order
God has said that government in accordance with criminal activity may use “the sword” to achieve this purpose
God has not mandated that government use this type of punishment
God ultimately has final authority over the judgment of the soul and motivation of people

The main issue for us as Christians is that God has given us the responsibility to obey our leaders:
President and other leaders
Local leaders
Police and emergency
Parents and other adults
Teachers

We as Christians don’t always like what our leaders say or do:
Taxes
Regulations
Law Enforcement
Military

The only time we can resist govt. is when it goes against God’s will as revealed to us in God’s Word.

What ever we do or whatever the government does we ultimately live Christ’s work for us.
Jesus obeyed the governing authorities in the process of His death for us.
Jesus died for all the times we have sinned against God by not honoring the ruling authority
Jesus’ death won for us forgiveness for our sin.
Jesus’ resurrection gives ultimate hope not in this life, but the life eternal.

As God’s people we want to serve God by honoring those who are our leaders.

Honoring involves:
Prayer
Not breaking the law
Giving supported where possible

How many of us really believe that we are really a part of God’s family?

You may think this is a really weird question: Of course, I would not be here if I was not.

The reason I ask this question is that like all families and groups sometimes I may participate, but I am not really a part of the group or I don’t feel like I have ownership in the group or the family really loves me.

God says in our reading today that we are heirs to God’s gifts and family by the work of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was born to pay the price for us-vs. 4-5

Without Jesus we would be people who are separated from God and have no relationship with God.

Old Testament inheritance was a theological process not legal:
Inheritance came from God in the land
The other inheritance was the promise of a savior

New Testament inheritance:
Jesus
Abraham
The Believer

Jesus paid the price for you and for me and He then sent His Holy Spirit to give us the gift that is ours to own and use. Vss. 6-7

We do not deserve this inheritance, but God loves us so much that He sent His son for us.

The issue for us is to take this inheritance and use it and live it.

How often do we let the gift of our inheritance do nothing-Matthew 25:14-28

A Car

As individuals:
We say it is important to us, but don’t live it
We don’t share it
Our sin
We hurt others
We don’t study the Word
We do not spend time in prayer

As God’s church:
Get comfortable
Argue about the irrelevant
Become internal lookers
Do not serve other Christians much less the non-believer

God says this is yours use, I will make it grow and make things happen, trust me and test me.

God said He would save us and He did it through Jesus Christ.
Jesus was born of a virgin
Jesus was and is the perfect man
Jesus died in our place
Jesus arose from the dead

Because of all that Jesus did and does for us we can out of thanksgiving use the gift that we own.

God’s Holy Spirit works it through His Word and the gifts of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.

FOC:
We use every gift at our disposal
We trust God
We risk and try new things
We never get complacent
Remember that we have a mission to share and to serve

As individuals:
We share
We live in joy
We worship
We love and serve others

How many of us have plans and goals in life and they seem to change due to things we can not control?

We can look at the two groups who this wonderful story effects:
The Holy Family of Christ
The Shepherds

Holy Family:
Lives were moved from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census
Could not stay in a home or inn
Stayed in a cave or stable
Baby born who would change the world

Shepherds:
Watching their sheep as they always did
Angels come out of nowhere to speak to them
They left their sheep to see a baby

Jesus came into the World to change everything and mess up the plans of Satan and our sinful selves.

Satan is always working to mess up our lives and tempts our selfish nature:
What is best for others is not best for me.
I can not let others stand in the way of what I want
My spouse and children are annoying
Scrooge

Our sinful nature:
I want my spouse and marriage to serve me(Your not the person I married)
I have these plans for the future and they are changed
My children are not behaving the way I want them to
God does not give me what I want when I want it
I am disappointed by everybody
Christmas is not what I wanted
Death hurts
Divorce
Addiction

Jesus came to mess up the plans of this world:
Jesus’ life and death changed the relationship between God and people
Jesus’ brought grace for salvation from the belief of working for salvation
Jesus brought and won forgiveness instead of revenge
Jesus came to change people from the past to a joyous future

Jesus did this through His death on the cross as our sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus arose from the dead to give the promise of eternal life

We are given this wonderful gift of salvation and forgiveness through God’s Word.
This gift starts in our lives through Holy Baptism
We are strengthened by the gift of the Lord’s Supper

How does the gift mess up our lives?
Instead of thinking of ourselves first we want to think of others
When relationships are messed up because our behavior or others we are repentant and forgiving
We stop seeing God as a judgmental mean God, but as a loving, gracious and forgiving God.
We see our first responsibility to God
Our daily lives are changed
How we see all our relationships differently

We also see this gift as a gift not keep for ourselves, but a gift to share:
Gift to share with our Family of Christ
Gift to share with our friends
Gift to share with our neighbor
Gift to share with our co-worker
Gift to share with the stranger

Actually there is no longer a mess in our lives, but a whole new plan and future for us.

How often do you and I feel like we are jumbled or messy inside and maybe outside?

Vss. 5-7
We are a mess as people before God and His perfection.

Vs. 5-When God helps those who are His and then others treat them horribly God is not pleased
Vs. 6-We are dirty and messy inside, in fact we are so weak against our own sin we let it move us easily
Vs. 7-We don’t even call on God when we need to and as a result we waste away

Vs. 5 We mess up our relationships with other Christians whether family or friends:
Say our children are important and do not treat them as such
Do everything for our children not realizing that builds contempt
Treat our spouse like they should take it
Divorce
Show lack of respect for our parents
Talk about a friend behind their backs

Vs. 6 When we look inside ourselves we are not clean people:
Not just the thoughts and desires that not clean in the eyes of God
The mess of our anxieties
The mess of our fears
The mess of emotions
The mess of our actions

Vs. 7We do not trust God or turn to him-
God says I will be there and we don’t quite believe it
We try to do things on our own
We try to find worldly answers to spiritual questions or problems
We try to control God and other people


When we do not trust God or turn to Him, we end up on the short end of things:
Our lives become overly anxious
We may turn to other options that are harmful
We may begin to have that feeling in our stomachs of emptiness or fear
We may actually turn away from God

So how is messiness a gift? Without knowing that we are messy, flawed and sinful people then we can not and would not understand or receive the Grace of God which is the real gift. Vs. 8

God takes messy and dirty people and cleans them through the blood of Jesus Christ.
God took the dirt and sin of our lives and put them upon the body of Jesus upon the Christ.
God punished our sin, not upon us, but upon Jesus Christ.
God raised Jesus from the dead, so that the Devil can not use our sin and dirt against us any more.
We also have the hope of eternal life with God where our dirt will never effect us again.

As vs. 8 says we are God’s clay that is molded into different people.
We are forgiven people who do sin, but we do repent.
We are forgiven people who do sin, but we forgive.
We are forgiven people who will have days of dirtiness, but we can turn to God know He is with us.
We are forgiven people who have broken relationships that can be healed and are healing.

Baptism and Cleaning

To baptize means to wash.
God through the Water and the Word cleans us by forgiveness of our sins.
This baptism we can remember everyday and know that we are clean.

As God’s clean and forgiven people we can then:
Serve
Trust
Love
Struggle
Share

The last few weeks we have heard very depressing readings from the Bible, today is very different.
We hear about healing and returning to God, instead of destruction.

What is the Bible talking about?

The Jews had been scattered by the people they had been conquered by to all parts of the empire. God said that He will bring them home to their homeland.

God did bring them back later and they rebuilt the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

God is not only talking about the Jews, but about people in general.

God has called all people to be His sheep and come home to be with Him.

There are four different groups of people God has called and is calling.
Those who are already a part of His family
Those who were part of His family and left the Family of Christ
Those who are searching for the comfort and peace God gives.
Those who do not seek God at all

Part of the family:
God brought us into His family and daily sustains us
God daily brings us to repentance and we receive forgiveness
We, by faith, daily trust God
We recognize that we are a part of God’s kingdom

Those who left:
God wants them to come back to Him
They may have been hurt deeply and blame God
Joe Esterhaus
They have left with out even realizing what happened
Those who are searching:
God wants them to be saved
People who are lost and have never known God
They have tried other spirituality and are still empty
They are ready for the truth of God’s mercy

Those who are not seeking God:
God wants them to be saved
They are the atheist, the agnostic, the angry, the other religious
They are ones who do not realize they need God’s mercy
They are the toughest to share with
They are still loved by God

What is God giving His people:
Vss. 15-16
Healing
Strength
Protect against the enemies
Know the true justice of God
All people seek these things in their lives

We are seeking these and we find them in God’s grace and mercy through the means of Grace.

God’s Word:
Psalms, Gospels, and the rest of the Bible.
God working through the Word in people.
God working through those people in His Church.
God working through His people in their families, schools, neighborhoods and communities.

God gives all of this comfort, healing and strength through conquering of the enemies of sin, death and the devil.

Jesus died on the cross and by His death we are healed in our relationship with God and the consequence of Sin.
Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us the strength face our daily lives-Lord’s Supper
Jesus’ death and resurrection forgives our sins and conquers Satan-Baptism
Jesus’ resurrection gives the ultimate promise and hope of heaven with God where are all is permanently healed. Rev. 21:1-5

Have you heard the term-We must be broken down before we can be built back up again.

Zephaniah’s ministry is dated in the reign of Josiah (640-609 B.C.). He warned that the day of the Lord would bring judgment on Judah and Jerusalem and he called the Jews to return to God. Zephaniah then predicted that Judah’s neighboring nations would be destroyed as well. With a note of hope, he promised that God would bring His people home.

Military boot camp-Find clip

God is saying in the Bible reading this morning, that He is going to destroy everything about the evil and idolatrous people. What is worse for the people is that those who know God, still reject him then God’s anger will be hard upon them. 1:10-13

God was saying that the people in general were so far off and oppressive that God said He had to destroy them, The Chaldean empire is what God would use to do this work. But God did not leave the problem as it was, but He showed Grace and mercy-Chapter 3

God continually made things right-History of Israel

Do we deserve what Israel was about to get? Yes, without God we do. Romans 3:9-23

Look at our lives through God’s Law-Ten Commandments

Very often people don’t get their need for God until they are totally broken.

Addiction

Think of a time in your life when you really were at the lowest in your life and nowhere else to turn.

What are low times?
Death of a loved one
Anxiety
Problem Marriage or Divorce
Loss of Job
Loss of a child
Others

We are people at times who are living in a dark world and we can not come out of it.

God knows what we need when things are not right in our lives and sometimes it takes something major to humble us or break us down.

God gave us the healing we need the most when He sent Jesus to die on the cross.
God has brought us out the darkness and brokenness of our sin and guilt, by punishing Jesus for our sins and consequences of our sins:
Pain
Struggle
Sickness
Loneliness
Separation

Because of Jesus we are whole in the eyes of God the Father.
Because of Jesus we can deal with the brokenness of this life.
Because of Jesus we are forgiven.
Because of Jesus we are repentant.
Because of Jesus our relationships are changed and can change.

Because of Jesus we have the opportunity and hope of ultimate wholeness-To arise from the dead and be with God in all wholeness. Heaven and earth come together with God for eternal joy.


We have a taste of that whole relationship through the Lord’s Supper.
We are not destroyed, we are saved.
We are not alone, we have love and care
Because of God’s mercy we have the opportunity to serve others out thanksgiving for what God has done for and through us:
Bring love and care to our families
Bring love and care to our friends and neighbors
Bring love and care to our co-workers and strangers
We can bring the message of healing to hurting and broken people.

How often in our lives do we ask for something or say something just placate another person?

How often do people go to church just because supposed and then go through the motions?

What is our society and world like right now?
Problem economy
War
Moral problems

What do we do when our world seems overwhelming?
Worry
Put our trust in earthly leaders to fix it all
Withdraw
Call on God?

Purpose of Writing: Amos is a shepherd and a fruit picker from the Judean village of Tekoa when God calls him, even though he lacks an education or a priestly background. Amos' mission was directed to his neighbor to the north, Israel. His messages of impending doom and captivity for the nation because of her sins were largely unpopular and unheeded, however, because not since the days of Solomon have times been so good in Israel. Amos' ministry takes place while Jeroboam II reigns over Israel, and Uzziah reigns over Judah

Brief Summary: Amos can see that beneath Israel's external prosperity and power, internally the nation is corrupt to the core. The sins for which Amos chastens the people are extensive: neglect of God's Word, idolatry, pagan worship, greed, corrupted leadership and oppression of the poor. Amos begins by pronouncing a judgment upon all the surrounding nations, then upon his own nation of Judah, and finally the harshest judgment is given to Israel. His visions from God reveal the same emphatic message: judgment is near. The book ends with God's promise to Amos of future restoration of the remnant.


Israel, when things went wrong, would call on God and do their rites of worship, but there was a problem-They were going through the motions like magic. Vss. 18-24

God’s response to them was things are going to get worse when you do not truly trust or worship Him.

When the answers from society do not work we then turn to God:
12 ways to fix anything
The best book for this or that
Internet
My neighbor
Drugs or alcohol
Find yourself


To deal with the problems of this life we also come to God with false worship or magical worship:
If I just pray
If I just go to church
If I am good
If I do a lot at church
If I go to communion


We then have the same problems that the Jews did have, we won’t find what we are looking for:
Better days ahead
Comfort
Guidance
Help
Joy

When come to the Lord with our hearts truly toward Him and trusting in Him things may not physically change, but our lives in response to the struggles changes.

God calls us to true worship.
True worship is that we believe and confess and not just run the motions. Hosea 6:6

Who are we truly worshipping:
The true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We are worshipping our God who sacrificed His own Son Jesus Christ for us on the cross.
Jesus took the punishment for our sins, our sins of insincerity, lack of trust, false worship.
We have forgiveness for those sins.
In our worship we say thank you to God for His grace to us.

When we worship our God we not only give praise to Him, but we also hear and take in His Word and the gifts of Baptism and Lord’s Supper.

We are given ways to face and deal with the problems of this world:
Wisdom
Comfort
Strength
Mercy
Sometimes changes in our lives
We can face the disorder of this world with the order of God’s grace and wisdom

What do you think the opinion of those who are not Christian is of the Christian and the Christian Church?




How do we think we present ourselves to the non-Christian world?

The Bible starts with the fact that discipline is important and lack of discipline shows lack of love for the child.
Proverbs 13:24
Proverbs 23:13-14

We all face the problem of discipline?
How much
What Kinds
When?

Why do we discipline? Because we are all sinners who are disobedient.

Two issues that we face:
Not discipline
Doing it the easy way

When we do not discipline we do not show:
Love
Laziness
We are not thinking of our children’s future

Very often we think of discipline as punishment, but discipline is more importantly teaching for the present and the future.

When we do it the easy way we also face the problem not seeing the future.

Look at God and how He has dealt with His people:
The Children of Israel and forty years in the desert
The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the prophets-Jeremiah 30:1-18
Jesus and how He saw God’s people and His children in discipline-Luke 13:31-35

The ultimate discipline that God placed upon anyone would be in any other context unfair, but just in the work and plan of God:
Jesus as God and the son of the Father is perfect
We are sinners who deserve the wrath and punishment of God
We are disobedient children
We should be punished and disciplined for our sin
God put punishment for our sin upon Jesus for us-The perfect sacrifice: Romans 6:23, 1 Peter 2:24
God is perfect and there is to be punishment for sin which was worked through Jesus Christ on the cross.
Because of Jesus’ work on the cross we have forgiveness and the hope of eternal life.
As God’s representatives in this world to help our children know God’s Word and will we have the responsibility and opportunity under the cross of Christ to teach and discipline our children

Commitment=Discipline:
When we say we are going to discipline then we follow through with it
We want discipline to help our children learn about choices
We want discipline to help our children learn about good results and consequences
We want discipline to help our children learn repentance
We want discipline to help our children learn forgiveness

A few thoughts:
Don’t be afraid of the word “no” and sometimes you don’t have to explain it.-Quote from a parent: “We never said no to our children, so they never learned how to say no to themselves in a time that celebrates not caring.
You can also give your child choices
Make consequences fit the misbehavior
Put discipline into play when the problem occurs not later
Speak to our children about the consequence, not in anger, but in love.
Give affirmation for things done right-sometimes quietly and sometimes with a lot fluff
Repent when we do things out of anger
Forgive when they repent
We are going to sin and make mistakes and God gives wisdom and grace to that.
Our children still will make big blunders when they get older, but we put them in the hands of God and what He has worked through us.

Last thoughts:
Forgive them
Forgive yourself
Pray
Trust God and rely on His Word

To the Children: Proverbs 19:8 and 15:5

37 Movies out right now:
11 are rated R
22 are rated PG 13
4 are rated PG or G

What are other things that we know about that our world puts in front our children and our families?
Internet
Books
Video Games
Television

Matthew 18:1-14 applies to how we influence those who are young in faith and young in age.

We have been called by God to nurture, care and influence our children to face a difficult and sinful world.

Where do we start as parents in raising our children to deal with the world we live in.

First we have to realize there is not a 10 step program in raising our children.

We want to look who we are as human beings and parents and who are we?
We are sinners
We are saints because of Jesus Christ
We also have struggled as children
We need to be repentant
We need to be forgiving
We also struggle with what the world tempts us


We also want to know who our children are:
Each an individual
Sinners
Will try many things
Want our attention
Want us to give them love and direction
Want our approval
Can be easily influenced good and bad
There are others influencing their thoughts and opinions


We also need to realize that many of the decisions we are going to make are not going to be easy and we will make mistakes.

All that we do in our raising of our children begins with the cross of Christ.

We want to teach our children that they have been given a faith that is centered around a loving, forgiving and sacrificial savior.
Jesus lived a perfect life for us.
Jesus died on the cross for you and for me to take the punishment for our sin.
Jesus loves them so much that He is watching and protecting them.
Jesus loves them so much that forgives them when they do something wrong.
God will give them strength when things hard.

We want to spend time with our children studying the Word of God. God works through the Word to help us with wisdom to deal with the tough decisions in life.

We want to pray with our children to help them know that they can go to God to talk to Him about the decisions we face in life.

We want to worship with our children to give them a place to show them how important our God is.

We also want to be examples of:
Repentance
Forgiveness
Listening
Time
Worship
Prayer
Study in the Word

We also want our children to know that we will help them and be there for them as parents to face the tough decisions they will face in this world and that when we can’t be there God is always there to rely on.

We most importantly want them to know of a loving and forgiving God who will never leave them nor forsake them.

Proverbs 1:8-9-Just for Kids.