Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

What We Believe

What we believe: Jesus Christ

Over the next few weeks as a church we are going to explore what we believe. These key doctrines and concepts of scripture shape our life individually as well as our life together as the Church. Together we want to get a clearer picture of the nature of our faith as the Church of the Nazarene, not just to gain knowledge, but to value the freedom and joy found in living out the way of Jesus of Nazareth.

Welcome to our new teaching series “What we believe”.

Today is the beginning and the end.

Because who we are and what we believe begins and ends with Jesus.

He is the foundation.

It starts and ends with Him.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭23

‬‬But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

In Matthew’s account, he focuses very little on the actual details of the birth of Jesus. But he gives immediate focus to the significance of who Jesus is.-The mission of Jesus is to be Savior, save us from sin.”you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”-The ministry of Jesus is to be God here with us.”they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”)

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭7‬‬

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Listen to the claims of Christ Himself:-I am the way between you and the Father.-You don’t have to be separated anymore.-Sin no longer needs to be a barrier.-I haven’t just come to show you the Father, I’ve come to reconcile you with the Father.

Bottom Line:

It all begins and ends with Jesus.

Articles of Faith – Church of the Nazarenehttps://2017.manual.nazarene.org/section/articles-of-faith/

Verses for further study/reflection:

Luke 1:26–35

John 1:1–18

Acts 2:22–36

Romans 8:3, 32–34

Galatians 4:4–5

Philippians 2:5–11

http://bible.com/events/48974644

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: “Do You Still Trust Me?”

Through our series together we have addressed things like listening to God, avoiding sin, and waiting on God. Though these topics have all been distinct, they also carry a common theme: trust.

If you trust that God speaks you will actively listen.

If you trust that God desires intimacy with you, you won’t hold onto sins that He is asking you to let go of.

If you trust God has a plan, and His timing is perfect, you will wait on Him with confidence.

If we remove trust from any of these, God may very well seem silent to us.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭45‬-‭46‬‬

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

What does Jesus do in the darkest moment of His life?

He cries out to the Father. But He’s not just saying whatever comes to mind, He’s quoting Scripture. He’s quoting Psalm 22.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬-‭5‬‬

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

If verses 1-2 present the problem – God, where are you?

Then verses 3-5 propose a solution: trust.Of all the things that Jesus could say at His darkest hour and of all the places to which He could point us, Jesus points us to trust.

When God seems silent, will you trust Him anyways?

If trust is a choice, then we must acknowledge the doubts that we can often face:

1. God doesn’t care

2. God is a liar3. God has abandoned me

Trusting God does not mean ignoring the feelings of doubt.

In Psalm 22, David acknowledges the doubt (“why have you forsaken me?”) but ultimately chooses trust (“in you they trusted and were not put to shame”).

Bottom Line:

Doubting and trusting are both choices. Which one is yours?

Verses for further study/reflection:

Matthew 27:46

Proverbs 3:5

Psalm 37:4-6

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Isaiah 26:3

Psalm 9:10

Church of the Nazarene -East Rock

When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: “Do You still Trust Me?

The author of Hebrews reminds us in Chapter 4 that Jesus is able to empathize with our weakness, that he has experienced the temptations we do, yet he did not give in to sin.

This is the final message in our teaching series “When God Seems Silent”

So, today if you would say God seems silent, maybe you feel alone, abandoned, or forsaken, Jesus knows how you feel, he empathizes with you in that difficult place.

From the cross Jesus felt like God was silent, like he was forsaken. So he understands that pain, the difficulty of those seasons, and he longs to give you grace, mercy and help in your time of need.He was at that place before you were.

Do you believe that is true?

Through our series together we have addressed things like listening to God, avoiding sin, and waiting on God. Though these topics have all been distinct, they also carry a common theme, a common core value, if you will…And that common theme, is trust…If you trust that God speaks you will actively listen.

If you trust that God desires intimacy with you, and has your highest good in view, you won’t hold onto those sins that he is asking you to let go of.

If you trust God has a plan, and his timing is perfect, you will wait on him with confidence.

If we remove trust from any of these, God may very well seem silent to us.‭‭

Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬-‭5‬‬

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

When Jesus cried out from the Cross, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” he was reaching back some 500 years to the words of King David in Psalm 22.Perhaps what should stand out to us today is that Jesus quotes a Psalm in those moments that acknowledges the pain and felt isolation, yet moves quickly to declaring Gods Holiness and his faithfulness to past generations.

Psalm 22

progresses from the desperate plea for God’s presence, to a declaration of trust. That is the essence of the journey we are invited on today friends-To acknowledge where we are and how we feel, but to move beyond that place, to placing our trust in God. To trusting him even when we don’t see it, even when he seems silent.

Will you trust him?

To trust God, we must bring together our belief in his existence and our faith in who He is says he is, into the everyday details and happenings of life.

And friends, when things are going great, when it all makes sense, trusting God in the details and next steps is easy- it’s exciting, thrilling even…But when things don’t seem to be going great, when it doesn’t make sense, when it doesn’t feel good or it’s hard- trusting God can be the hardest thing we are called to do as followers of Christ.

How could David (or Jesus) choose to trust?

What would that decision look like for you?

Where does that Journey begin? For David it began with two powerful words: yet you…‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭3‬‬Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.

For David, the first step of trust was to look beyond what he could see, to move beyond what he could feel, to trust in who he KNEW God to be-He took that step by remembering the faithfulness of God to his ancestors before him.

That step can be hard- it can take us a while to get there even, but it’s a step we must take.

Whatever trust looks like for you today, God is worthy of your trust.

Trusting Him is ALWAYS the right decision for your life. Always…

http://bible.com/events/48969469

Church of the Nazarene- Harrisonburg

When God Seems Silent (3)

When God Seems Silent: “Are you in A Hurry?”

Is God actually silent? Does he really go quiet on us?

David was anointed to be the next King of Israel as a teenager, but didn’t become King until he was 30. David knew what it meant to wait.‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27:13-14‬‬I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:31‬‬but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

The Bottom Line:

We can’t confuse God’s delay with His silence.

Waiting may mean enduring opposition.‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭11:28-29

‬‬“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

God is not passive while we wait.

We can’t wait passively.

Is your prayer to Him one of defeat or desperation?

Church of the Nazarene -East Rock

When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: “Are you in A Hurry?”

We can really struggle when our timeline isn’t being met can’t we?

Whether that’s in a customer service line, a restaurant, or even in the car waiting for our spouse, we struggle with waiting.

From very early on in our lives, we have expectations for how fast things should happen, and when they don’t, the frustration mounts.

Even in our walk with Jesus-

We pray and we want answers now.

We hurt and we want healing- yesterday.

When we’re confused, we want direction

And when those prayer’s go seemingly un-answered, our frustration can mount, we can begin to believe that God is silent, that he doesn’t really hear our broken hearts.

Have you been there??

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:8-9‬‬

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Today if you would say that God seems silent, like he is not moving, not listening, and not speaking- perhaps we might ask the searching question:

Are you in a hurry?

Welcome back to part 3 of our teaching series “When God seems silent”

Throughout this series we are seeking to understand how to approach life when God appears not to be speaking, when he seems silent.

We acknowledge that in our human experience, the walking out of our faith, it’s not always as easy to hear the Lord as we might wish.

To hear him takes intentionality- Listening to the Lord is not a passive activity, we must actively listen making space to hear his voice.

Un confessed sin can also serve to separate us from his voice, from the relationship with him that we were made for.

And sometimes we can misinterpret God’s delay as His silence.‭‭

Psalms‬ ‭27:13-14‬‬

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

David in writing this psalm has firmly placed his faith and trust in the Lord, that he will see His goodness in the land.

A lot like listening, our waiting is not a passive activity on our part.

To wait on the Lord is to seek him, to trust him, to allow him to work within our hearts as we wait on HIS plan to unfold, yes, in his timing…Not ours.

God is not making us wait to annoy us, he is having us wait to transform us. To strengthen our faith and trust in him.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:28-31

‬‬Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

In God, waiting isn’t the time when nothing is happening. Waiting is the time when EVERYTHING is happening.

However, much it might feel desolate, or hopeless, again and again the scriptures say- that it’s in the waiting that our strength is renewed.

His followers that learn to wait on Him will renew their strength… In the waiting

They will soar on wings like eagles… in the waiting

They will run, they will not grow weary…In the waiting

Through the waiting they will walk and not faint..

Friend if you are in the waiting today, I invite you to claim that promise.

Our schedule is always faster; His is always better.