Eastside Baptist Church, Winfield, Alabama

“Prophetic Blessings: Jacob’s Sons”

“Prophetic Blessings: Jacob’s Sons” (Genesis 49:1–28)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, February 5, 2017
 
Genesis 49:1–28 (NIV)
49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
    2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
       listen to your father Israel.
    3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
       my might, the first sign of my strength,
       excelling in honor, excelling in power.
    4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
       for you went up onto your father’s bed,
       onto my couch and defiled it.
    5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers—
      their swords are weapons of violence.
    6 Let me not enter their council,
      let me not join their assembly,
     for they have killed men in their anger
     and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
    7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
     and their fury, so cruel!
     I will scatter them in Jacob
     and disperse them in Israel.
    8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you;
      your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
      your father’s sons will bow down to you.
    9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
      you return from the prey, my son.
      Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
      like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
   10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
       nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
       until he to whom it belongs shall come
       and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
   11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
      his colt to the choicest branch;
      he will wash his garments in wine,
      his robes in the blood of grapes.
   12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
       his teeth whiter than milk. 
   13 “Zebulun will live by the seashore
      and become a haven for ships;
      his border will extend toward Sidon.
   14 “Issachar is a rawboned donkey
       lying down among the sheep pens. 
   15 When he sees how good is his resting place
       and how pleasant is his land,
       he will bend his shoulder to the burden
       and submit to forced labor.
   16 “Dan will provide justice for his people
       as one of the tribes of Israel.
   17 Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
       a viper along the path,
      that bites the horse’s heels
      so that its rider tumbles backward.
   18 “I look for your deliverance, Lord.
   19 “Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders,
       but he will attack them at their heels.
   20 “Asher’s food will be rich;
       he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
   21 “Naphtali is a doe set free
       that bears beautiful fawns. 
   22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
       a fruitful vine near a spring,
       whose branches climb over a wall.
   23 With bitterness archers attacked him;
       they shot at him with hostility.
   24 But his bow remained steady,
       his strong arms stayed limber,
       because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
       because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
   25 because of your father’s God, who helps you,
       because of the Almighty, who blesses you
       with blessings of the skies above,
       blessings of the deep springs below,
       blessings of the breast and womb.
   26 Your father’s blessings are greater
       than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
       than the bounty of the age-old hills.
       Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
       on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
   27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
       in the morning he devours the prey,
       in the evening he divides the plunder.”
   28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he            blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
 
Reuben – the rebellious, immoral son
 
Simeon and Levi – the angry, vengeful, violent sons
 
Judah – the leader among his brothers and the tribe of Israel’s King
 
The Other Sons: God determines the destinies of his covenant people:
 
Zebulun – trading with sea merchants for valuable goods
 
Issachar – working hard in a good and fertile land
 
Dan – seeking justice, but sometimes violence
 
Gad – attacked, yet victorious
 
Asher – prospering through farming and trade
 
Naphtali – flourishing in the fertile region of Galilee
 
Joseph – the one who overcame his enemies by the strength of his God, now blessed and the recipient of the firstborn blessing (1 Chronicles 5:1–2).
 
Benjamin – the skillful, aggressive soldier
 
Lessons/Applications:
 
Be sure your sin will find you out (Reuben, Simeon, Levi). Our sins often have consequences. Sometimes those earthly consequences still follow us, even if we have been forgiven by God’s mercy and pardon.
 
God’s grace can transform anyone’s shame into honor (Judah).
 
Not all avenues of service are notable and spectacular (lesser known tribes).
 
God rewards the faithful for their loyal service. Those who show themselves faithful he blesses more abundantly.
 
God blesses whom he wants to bless. He is the sovereign Lord. We deserve nothing from God. Any gifts that he gives are grace.
 
God is the Lord of redemptive history, who used all these tribes, but especially the tribe of Judah, to bring our redeemer, Jesus Christ into the world.

“The Righteousness of God”

“The Righteousness of God” (Romans 1:17)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, February 5, 2017
 
Romans 1:16-17, NIV
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed-- a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
 
The gospel is (v. 16):
A story that is worthy of unashamed proclamation
A story that unleashes the power of God on humanity.
A story that saves everyone who believes.
A story that is good news for the whole world.
 
Verse 17 further describes the power of the gospel:
 
The gospel reveals the righteousness of God.
 
The righteousness of God is his powerful saving activity among humanity that graciously gives a righteous status to those who cannot earn their own righteousness.
 
This graciously imparted righteous status from God is received by sinners by faith alone.
 
Main Idea: The gospel reveals the righteousness of God, which is his powerful saving activity among humanity that graciously grants the status of righteousness on the basis of faith and faith alone to everyone who believes.

"Chapter 13: Trusting"

Walking with God through Pain & Suffering
by Timothy Keller
Chapter 13: Trusting
Expressing our sorrow in lament is not in conflict with an abiding trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God.
Language of lament and language of trust are found throughout the Bible in the face of life’s suffering.
Both sets of texts are in the Bible, and they are both important.
We should not interpret one group in such a way that it contradicts or weakens the claims and assertions of the other.
Joseph’s Story
The story of Joseph begins with a long string of terrible events that happened to him.
Joseph probably asked God to deliver him on many occasions—but there was just silence.
Joseph prayed for years and years for help from God—and never received a single answer.
It was not until all of the events unfolded that Joseph could look back and understand God’s purposes.
The Hidden God
Was God not there in all those years of difficulty and hardship in Joseph’s life?
No, he was there, and he was working.
He was hidden behind the scenes, but he was also in complete control.
The number of “coincidences” that had to come together for the events to unfold as they did is astounding, and a number of those events were difficult and painful.
But what would have happened if Joseph had never gone to Egypt?
If Joseph had not gone to Egypt:
Many people would have died from starvation.
His own family would have been wiped out.
Spiritually, his family would have been a disaster.
Joseph corrupted by pride and his father’s favoritism
The brothers corrupted by anger
Jacob corrupted by his addictive, idolatrous love of his youngest sons
The Joseph story shows us that even when people make choices of their own accord, even evil choices, that God is still sovereign and in complete control.
God was working out his purposes throughout all of the events—even in the smallest details of the daily lives and schedules and choices of everyone.
God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” “for the good of those who love him” (Eph. 1:11; Rom. 8:28).
How did all the events of the Joseph story unfold?
They came about through suffering:
The terrible years of crushing slavery for Joseph
The terrible years of debilitating guilt for the brothers
The terrible years of grief and depression for Jacob
All of this was God’s plan to save lives.
After the pain, comes a “harvest of righteousness and peace” (Heb. 12:11).
Trusting the Hidden God
It is perhaps most striking of all to realize that if God had given Joseph the things he was likely asking for in prayer, it would have been terrible for him.
God was hearing and responding to Joseph’s prayers for deliverance, rescue, and salvation, but not in the ways or forms or times Joseph asked for it.
During all the time in which God seemed hidden, Joseph still trusted.
We do not always get to see how everything fit together in God’s plan like Joseph did, but we must trust God regardless.
At Dothan, Joseph prayed for deliverance and the answer was 20 years in the making. Also at Dothan, Elisha prayed for deliverance (2 Kings 6), and the answer came immediately.
God was just as present and active in the slow answer to Joseph as he was in the swift answer to Elisha.
Very often God does not give us exactly what we ask for. Instead he gives us what we would have asked for if we had known everything he knows.
We must never assume that we know enough to mistrust God’s ways or be bitter against what he has allowed.
We must also never think we have really ruined our lives, or have ruined God’s purposes for us.
You cannot destroy God’s good purposes for us, and you can’t break God’s love.
Everything Hangs Together
Everything that happens is part of God’s plan, even the little things and the bad things.
Nothing happens by accident.
Very seldom do we glimpse even a millionth of the ways that God is working all things together for good for those who love God, but you can be assured he will not abandon you.
“Everything is needful that he sends; nothing can be needful that he withholds” – John Newton
The Ultimate Joseph
Joseph was a forerunner of Jesus.
Like Joseph, the Lord Jesus
Sold for silver coins
Denied and betrayed by his brethren
Unjustly put into chains and sentenced to death
Prayed for deliverance from God
Accepted the suffering as God’s will
Forgives his tormentors
Knew God intended good from evil
Promoted to power and intercedes for us
Looking at the cross, not knowing the whole story, we would have said: “I don’t see how God could bring any good out of this.”
But what we would have been looking at is the greatest, most brilliant thing God could ever do for the human race.
On the cross, both justice and love are being satisfied—evil, sin, and death are being defeated.
Don’t turn from God when we can’t fit events into our limited understanding.
We must trust God, even in the darkest times, because God is sovereign and good.
Even though we cannot know all the particular reasons for our crosses, we can look at the cross and know God is working things out for our good.
God accomplishes his salvation through weakness, not strength. Jesus triumphs over death by dying, winning by losing.
The grace of God grows more through our difficulties than our triumphs.

“No Ordinary Story”

“No Ordinary Story” (Romans 1:16)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, January 29, 2017
 
Romans 1:16, NIV
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 
 
A story that is worthy of unashamed proclamation.
 
A story that unleashes the power of God upon humanity.
 
A story that brings salvation to every person who believes.
 
A story that is good news for the entire world.
 
Main Idea: The gospel is the story of God’s power that saves sinners throughout the whole world through the atoning and resurrecting work of Jesus, his Son. And we need not be ashamed of believing it, of living it, or of boldly telling it to the world.
 

"Chapter 12: Weeping"

Walking with God through Pain & Suffering
by Tim Killer
 
Chapter 12: Weeping
 
The Disappearance of Lament
Our suffering is not redemptive; Christ’s suffering was redemptive. Our suffering is leading to our sanctification and ultimate glorification.
By and large, the church has lost the use of lament as a proper biblical response to troubles and misery.
The Psalms, however, are filled with examples of lament, cries of distress and grief.
Job and the Prophets are filled with examples of cries of lament.
 
Some church traditions have minimized the use of lament, out of fear of portraying a lack of faith or doubts about the love of Christ.
This approach to suffering does not do justice to the full range of emotion displayed in the Scriptures.
Faith in God is not necessarily a stoic faith, emotionally detached from the realities of life.
Job legitimately expressed grief with powerful emotion and honesty.
 
A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break
In light of the Bible’s use of lament, it is not right for us to simply say to a person (or ourselves) in grief that they need to pull themselves together. We should be more gentle and patient.
A bruised reed he [the Servant] will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; (Isa 42:3, NIV)
The Servant is to be identified as the Messiah, Jesus (see Matt 12:20).
 
Jesus cares for the fragile and the broken. He loves people who are beaten and battered and bruised.
He binds up the brokenhearted and heals our wounds (Ps 147:3; Isa 61:1).
God’s care for the depressed prophet Elijah is an example of his mercy to the “bruised reed.”
The angel does not come to Elijah in rebuke or in an attempt to manufacture joy; he comes with care and provides him nourishment.
 
Rest, nourishment, and encouragement are not all that Elijah needs, but that is what he needs in the moment.
Later, God will challenge him out of his despair by reorienting Elijah’s vision of the situation.
God takes a balanced approach with his prophet. He is a person with a body and a soul. He needs physical rest and nourishment. He needs emotional encouragement, and at the right time he needs to be spiritually challenged.
 
Isaiah 42:3 means that Jesus is gentle with the bruised and never mistreats
Richard Sibbes: Think “…if Christ be so merciful as to not break me, I will not break myself by despair….”
Suffering people need to be able to weep and pour out their hearts, and not to immediately be shut down by being told what to do.
 
Weeping in the Dark
We need to allow more room and freedom for lament. Lament is not a lack of faith.
Reading and praying the Psalms of lament back to God can be good counsel to those in grief.
Psalm 88 ends without a note of hope, and is a biblical reminder that darkness may go on for a length of time before the light comes.
 
Times of darkness can reveal God’s grace in new depths.
Psalm 88 is in the Bible for a reason.
It reveals that God remains this man’s God not because the man puts on a happy face and controls all his emotions, but because of grace. God is patient and gracious with us. Salvation is by grace.
Heman is not praising God, but lamenting to God, and it is inspired Scripture.
 
It is perhaps when we are still in unrelenting darkness that we have the greatest opportunity to defeat the forces of evil.
In the darkness we have an opportunity that is not really there in better times.
We can choose to serve God just because he is God, not because things are going well.
In darkness, we can learn to love God for himself, and not for his blessings, while our love for other things lessens.
 
The Darkness of Jesus
Psalm 88 also reminds us that our darkness can be relativized by Jesus’ darkness.
God never abandons his children, but will use the darkness to make us into what he wants us to be.
Psalm 39 reminds us that Jesus endured the ultimate darkness for us. God turned his face from Jesus, as he died for our salvation.
Jesus died so that we would never be abandoned by God, even in darkness.
 
Jesus went into suffering for us. He did not abandon us despite all his own suffering. Do you think he will abandon you now in the midst of yours?
Because of Jesus—there is always hope, even in the darkest moments of your life.
 
Grieving and Rejoicing
What does it mean to “rejoice in suffering”?
Don’t think of it in purely subjective, emotional Rejoicing does not mean just to “have happy emotions.”
It also does not involve denying the real sorrow that you are experiencing.
1 Peter 1:6-7 does not pit rejoicing and suffering against one another.
We can and must rejoice in suffering if we are to grow through our suffering rather than be wrecked by it.
 
In the Bible, the “heart” is not identical to emotions. The heart is the place of your deepest commitments, trusts, and hopes.
Our emotions, thoughts, and actions flow from these commitments.
To “rejoice” in God means to dwell on and remind ourselves of who God is, who we are, and what he has done for us.
Our emotions may or may not follow us in this remembrance.
 
Rejoicing in suffering happens within
Grief and sorrow drive us more into God and show us the resources we never knew we had.
Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Did he not have joy in God?
The joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to feel your grief without it sinking you.
 
Rather than expecting God to remove the sorrow and replace it with happiness, we should look for a “glory”—a taste and conviction and increasing sense of God’s presence—that helps us rise above the darkness.
 

“Prophetic Blessings: Joseph’s Sons”

“Prophetic Blessings: Joseph’s Sons” (Genesis 48:1–22)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, January 22, 2017
 
Genesis 48:1–22 (NIV)
48 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty  appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’
5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan,  to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”
10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”
12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day and said,
“In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you  and take you back to the land of your fathers. 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
 
Applications:
Let us hold tightly to the promises of God, which cannot fail.
Let us remind ourselves of God’s works in the past to give us confidence for the future.
Let us remember that God’s grace does not operate according to our natural expectations.
Let us look forward in faith to the eternal promised land that God is preparing for us.

“Incarnational Ministry”

“Incarnational Ministry” (Romans 1:8–15)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, January 22, 2017
 
Romans 1:8–15 (NIV)
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
 
We should give thanks to God when the gospel is effective and is growing in influence (8).
 
We should make prayer for one another a purposeful and constant practice in our lives (9–10a).
 
We should place a high value on face to face discipleship and gospel ministry (over mediated forms) (10b–13).
It strengthens one another’s faith (11).
It brings mutual encouragement (12).
It produces gospel fruit in the lives of others (13).
It is hard, takes purpose, and is met with many obstacles (13).

 
As beneficiaries of the grace of God, we have an obligation to share the gospel with others, regardless of their race, economic status, or educational attainment (14–15).
 
 

"Chapter 11: Walking"

Walking with God through Pain & Suffering
by Tim Keller
 
Chapter 11: Walking
 
“When through fiery trials
Thy pathways shall lie,
My grace all sufficient,
shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee;
I only design
Thy dross to consume,
And thy gold to refine.”
-How Firm a Foundation-
 
Walking with God in Suffering
One of the main metaphors in the Bible for facing affliction is walking.
Walking through darkness
Walking through deep waters
Walking through slippery and dangerous mountain paths

Walking indicates progress.
We are to walk through suffering without shock and surprise, without denial of our sorrow and weakness, without resentment or paralyzing fear, yet also without acquiescence or capitulation, without surrender or despair.
 
The metaphor of walking through fire is one of the most helpful metaphors.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… Do not be afraid, for I am with you (Isaiah 43:2-3, 5)
Believers are not promised exemption from trouble.
The promise is that God will be with us, walking beside us in it.
 
Suffering is like a refiner’s fire, like a forge or furnace (1 Peter).
A furnace can obliterate or improve, depending on the object placed into the fire and the manner in which it is treated.
Adversity is like a fire that, rather than destroying you, can refine, strengthen, and beautify you, as a forge does with metal ore.
 
When gold is put through fire it may soften or melt, but it will not kindle and go to ashes.
The impurities that are mixed with the gold are burned up or separated from the gold, making the gold more pure and beautiful.
We have many blemishes in our character that we are often blind to in ourselves.
Suffering comes and reveals our impurities and draws them out, in order to refine us.
 
But, it depends on our response.
Adversity does not automatically cleanse the impurities from our character.
We must recognize, depend on, speak with, and believe in God while in the fire.
Knowing him personally while in our affliction is the key to becoming stronger rather than weaker in it.
 
Three in the Furnace
The promise of Isaiah 43:2-3 became literally true in the story of the three young Israelite men in Babylon (Daniel 3).
They would literally have to go through fire, into the furnace, for their faith in God.
They exhibited complete trust in God and so were able to be confident yet humble in the face of their affliction.
They confidently believed God could and would rescue them, but they also humbly acknowledged that they did not know the mind of God.
 
Faith is not believing that God will do something, no matter what, without any exceptions.
Faith is believing that God will do something, if it is God’s will to do it.
We can be confident in the power and might of God, but at the same time not be arrogant in our expectation that God will do exactly what we think he should.
A prayer not answered exactly as requested is not an indication of the weakness of our faith or of the weakness of God’s ability to answer.
 
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were ready for deliverance or death. They were already “spiritually fireproofed.”
God would deliver them from death or he would deliver them through
God would be glorified either way.
Their greatest joy was to honor God, not to use God to get what they wanted in life.
As a result, they were fearless. Nothing could overthrow them.
 
Four in the Furnace
The three Hebrew young men did not go through the fire alone.
As Isaiah 43 said, God walked with them through the flames.
The fourth “man” who appeared was likely the Angel of the LORD, or a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came to earth, he entered into our weakness and walked beside us through the difficulties of life.
He experienced them with us, and then endured the ultimate suffering for us.
 
Jesus endured the fire alone in our place so that we might be forgiven by God.
Now we can have the assurance of God with us in the fire, because Jesus suffered for us alone in the fire.
 
Lessons of the Furnace
If you believe in Jesus and you rest in him, then suffering will relate to your character like fire relates to gold.
Suffering is the only way to:
know who you truly are, including your strengths and weaknesses
become a compassionate person who helps others who are hurting
develop a profound trust in God that will fortify you against the disappointments of life
become wise about how life goes

 
God is with us in the fire. He has lived it, so he understands. He is near and available to be known and depended upon.
He walks with us, but will we walk with him?
If we have created a false “God-of-my-program,” then when life falls apart we will simply assume he has abandoned us and we won’t seek him.
 
How do we come through suffering strengthened and not broken?
We must walk with God.
Treat God as God.
Know God is there with you.
Remember the gospel.

Going into the fire without the gospel is the most dangerous thing you can do.
A heart forgetting the gospel will be torn between anger and guilt.
We must remember that Jesus went through the ultimate fire to save us. Now he will be with us in the smaller fires of our lives to purify us.
 
Ways to Walk with God
Walking is nondramatic, rhythmic.
It consists of steady, repeated actions you can keep up with over a long time.
A walk is a day in and day out praying, Bible and Psalms reading, obeying, talking to Christian friends, going to corporate worship, committing to and fully participating in the life of the church.
A walk with God is a metaphor that symbolizes slow and steady progress.
         
Walking with God means that, in general, you will not experience some kind of instant deliverance from your questions, sorrow, or fears.
There will be progress, but it will typically be slow and steady progress that comes only if you stick to the regular, daily activities of the walking.
Walk
Grieve and weep
Trust and pray
Think, thank, and love
Hope

 
These are complementary actions, not stages or steps.
Some may be more important at different times depending on the person, the circumstances, and the type of adversity.
No two paths through suffering are identical.
All of these, however, are helps that the Bible gives us for walking with God through suffering.
 

“Egypt Is Blessed by Joseph’s Leadership”

“Egypt Is Blessed by Joseph’s Leadership” (Genesis 47:13–31)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, January 15, 2017
 
Genesis 47:13–31 (NIV)
13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone.”
16 “Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”
25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”
26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.
27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”
“I will do as you say,” he said.
31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 
 
God wisely and graciously moved Jacob and his family to Egypt, because the condition in Canaan was incredibly desperate.
 
God used Joseph’s wise administration of the famine to save Israel’s hosts (Egypt) through their time of adversity.
 
God used Joseph’s wise administration of the famine to bless his people in the land of Goshen.
 
God blessed Jacob and allowed him to see Joseph again and to see some of the realization of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob coming to pass.
 
Jacob finished his years in humble worship and confident faith that God would fulfill his promise to bring his people out of this land and return them to Canaan.

“The Gospel of the Triune God”

“The Gospel of the Triune God” (Romans 1:1–7)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, January 15, 2017
Romans 1:1–7 (NIV) Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
     1. The Gospel’s Messenger (1).          a. Paul          b. A Servant of Christ Jesus          c. Called as an Apostle          d. Set-apart/Appointed for the Gospel of God
     2. The Gospel’s Promise (2).          a. The Gospel promised beforehand by God          b. The Gospel prophesied in the Holy Scriptures
     3. The Gospel’s Central Person: Jesus Christ (3–4).          a. The Son of God          b. Descendant of David          c. “Appointed as” the Son of God               i. In power              ii. By the Holy Spirit             iii. Through his resurrection from the dead          d. Our Lord
     4. The Gospel’s Mission (5).          a. Call the Gentiles/Nations to the Obedience of Faith               i. Through the grace and apostleship received from God              ii. For the sake of God’s name
     5. The Gospel’s Beneficiaries (6–7a).          a. You: Roman Christians (Predominantly Gentile)               i. Among the Gentiles              ii. Called (effectually)             iii. To belong to Jesus Christ              iv. Loved by God               v. Called (effectually) to be his saints/holy people          b. Us: Predominantly Gentiles
     6. The Gospel’s Blessings (7b).          a. Grace          b. Peace               i. From God our Father and              ii. From the Lord Jesus Christ

Chapter 10: The Varieties of Suffering

Walking with God through Pain & Suffering
by Tim Keller
 
Chapter 10: The Varieties of Suffering
 
Suffering has a tremendous capacity to help us grow.
Suffering does not deepen and enrich us automatically.
The same traumatic experience can ruin one person and make another person stronger and even happier.
How can we be prepared to handle suffering in a such a way that it leads to growth?
 
Diversities of Suffering
One way to be better prepared to handle suffering is to be aware of the fact that suffering comes in all varieties and shapes. Not all suffering is the same.
The Bible contains a remarkable degree of diversity on teaching regarding pain and adversity.
Suffering has a great number of causes as well as a wide variety of responses.
We cannot adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach to suffering—either its causes or proper responses to it.
 
The Suffering We Bring on Ourselves
Some suffering we bring on ourselves through immoral or unwise choices.
Biblical examples: David and Jonah
Suffering brought on by our own choices can be used by God to discipline us and to wake us up to our own weaknesses and failures.
God may use this type of suffering to humble us and lead us to turn to him.
The lesson of this kind of suffering is often humility and repentance.
 
The Suffering of Betrayal
Some suffering is not brought about by our own failures, but by the betrayal or cruelty of others.
Biblical examples: Paul, Jeremiah
Suffering caused by good and brave behavior—a response of the wicked to the righteous.
Standing up for what is right or a just cause may bring suffering.
Personal relationships may encounter betrayal; others may turn on you in their own self-interest.
The temptation will be to become bitter and harbor anger.
Certainly, justice should be pursued when necessary, but a vengeful spirit should be avoided or this type of suffering will lead to bitterness.
The lesson of this type of suffering is to learn the grace of forgiveness and trust in God’s justice.
 
The Suffering of Loss
There is also the common or “universal” suffering of loss due to our own mortality, weakness, decay, and death.
The curse of sin has affected us all, and no one can escape this kind of suffering.
We will all endure the futility of life in a sin-cursed world, whether disease, natural disaster, loss of a loved one to death, or our own death.
The lesson with this type of suffering is to direct our eyes on God and to the various forms of comfort and hope that our faith offers us.
 
The Suffering of Mystery
Some suffering is incredibly horrendous, extraordinary, and “senseless” and can be classified as mysterious suffering.
Biblical example: Job
There is no simple answer to this type of suffering as Job and his friends discovered.
The point of Job’s suffering was not to fix any one particular thing in his life but to lead him to trust and obey God simply for who God is, not in order to receive something or to get something done.
Job’s suffering was not a chastisement or a lesson aimed at changing a particular flaw in Job’s life. But it was still used as a powerful vehicle both for Job’s personal growth and for God’s glory.
The lesson was about the whole tenor of Job’s life, and his need to base it fully, with all his heart, on God.
Job-type suffering requires a process of honest prayer and crying, the hard work of deliberate trust in God, and a re-ordering of our loves.
 
Diversities of Temperament
Not only are there various types and causes of suffering, but the way people respond to suffering is also quite varied depending on a person’s temperament, personality, and individual circumstances.
Aspects of internal affliction in response to suffering:
Isolation
Implosion
Condemnation
Anger
Temptation

Every instance of suffering likely contains a mixture of these internal responses—different for each person.
These responses highlight the infinitely complex and diverse condition affliction can be.
 
Diversities of Pathways
Every affliction is virtually unique.
Every sufferer will need to find a somewhat different path through it.
Some counsel is helpful to some, but the same counsel could be hurtful or irritating to others – even if the counsel is true.
The timing, tone, and motivation behind true counsel is crucial in order for it to be helpful and comforting.
Truths need to be grasped in the right order for that person in that situation.
“When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” (Ps 23:4).
It turns out there is more than one path through the valley.
The Lord, the perfect Guide, will help you find the best way through it.
 

“Jacob and His Family Move to Egypt”

“Jacob and His Family Move to Egypt” (Genesis 46:1–47:12)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, January 8, 2017
 
Genesis 46:1–47:12 (NIV)
46 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
     2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
    “Here I am,” he replied.
     3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
     5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. 6 So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. 7 Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.
     8 These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt:
    Reuben the firstborn of Jacob.
     9 The sons of Reuben:
    Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi.
    10 The sons of Simeon:
   Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
    11 The sons of Levi:
    Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
    12 The sons of Judah:
    Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan).
    The sons of Perez:
    Hezron and Hamul.
    13 The sons of Issachar:
    Tola, Puah,  Jashub  and Shimron.
    14 The sons of Zebulun:
    Sered, Elon and Jahleel.
    15 These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram,  besides his daughter Dinah.            These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all.
    16 The sons of Gad:
    Zephon,  Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.
    17 The sons of Asher:
    Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah.
    Their sister was Serah.
    The sons of Beriah:
    Heber and Malkiel.
    18 These were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter        Leah—sixteen in all.
    19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel:
    Joseph and Benjamin. 20 In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 
    21 The sons of Benjamin:
    Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.
    22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob—fourteen in all.
    23 The son of Dan:
    Hushim.
    24 The sons of Naphtali:
   Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.
    25 These were the sons born to Jacob by Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter              Rachel—seven in all.
    26 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. 27 With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.
    28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, 29 Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.
    30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”
    31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”
47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” 2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
    3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”
    “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” 4 They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”
    5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
    7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”
    9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.”        10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
    11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.
       1.  God is faithful to bless, guide, and provide for his people (46:1–7).
 
       2. God is faithful to build his people into a great nation, as he promised (46:8–27).
 
       3.God is faithful to provide a land for his people to dwell (46:28–47:6).
 
       4. God is faithful to use his people as a channel of blessing to the world (47:7–12).
 

“The One True God”

“The One True God” (Psalm 115)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, January 8, 2017
 
Psalm 115 (NIV)
     1 Not to us, Lord, not to us
          but to your name be the glory,
          because of your love and faithfulness.
     2 Why do the nations say,
          “Where is their God?”
     3 Our God is in heaven;
           he does whatever pleases him.
     4 But their idols are silver and gold,
           made by human hands.
     5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
           eyes, but cannot see.
     6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
           noses, but cannot smell.
     7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
           feet, but cannot walk,
           nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
     8 Those who make them will be like them,
           and so will all who trust in them.
     9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
           he is their help and shield.
    10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
           he is their help and shield.
    11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
           he is their help and shield.
    12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
           He will bless his people Israel,
           he will bless the house of Aaron,
    13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
           small and great alike.
    14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,
           both you and your children.
    15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
           the Maker of heaven and earth.
    16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
           but the earth he has given to mankind.
    17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
           those who go down to the place of silence;
    18 it is we who extol the Lord,
           both now and forevermore.
    Praise the Lord. 
 
       1. The One True God Is Worthy of All Glory (1–2).
 
      2. The One True God Is Worthy of Our Exclusive Worship (3–8).
 
       3. The One True God Is Worthy of Our Complete Trust (9–11).
 
       4. The One True God Blesses His People (12–15).
 
       5. The One True God Is Worthy of our Lives (16–18).
 
 

Chapter 9: Learning to Walk

Walking with God through Pain & Suffering
by Tim Keller
 
Chapter 9: Learning to Walk
 
What about Our Glory?
Suffering glorifies If God is treated as God during suffering, then suffering can reveal and present him in all his greatness.
Suffering also prepares a glory for us.
The glory that suffering prepares for us is not the same as the modern concept of self-improvement or happiness.
Ironically, happiness does not come by seeking happiness, but by seeking God and his kingdom. Loving God and loving others honors God and produces happiness in us as a byproduct.
 
We should trust God, not because it will get us something, but because God is worthy of our trust and worship.
If we don’t seek to find ourselves but to find God, we will eventually find both God and ourselves.
If we seek not our own benefit but God’s glory, it will lead paradoxically to a development of our own glory, that is, of our character, humility, hope, love, joy, and peace.
So, we must not waste our sorrows, but grow through them into grace and glory.
 
Productive Suffering
Contrary to Western secular culture that sees no purpose in suffering, the Bible presents a productive and valuable purpose in suffering.
Suffering can reveal flaws in our character that we might not otherwise see, such as lack of courage, selfishness, or self-love.
Going through sorrow, even depression, can cause us to appraise our own limitations and flaws more accurately, and help us to realize how little control we may have over our circumstances.
 
Suffering does not automatically improve your life.
Suffering will change you one way or another. It will leave you a much better person or a much worse one than you were before.
“Avoidance coping and denial” leads to avoidance strategies like drinking, drugs, etc. and ultimately to self-destruction.
“Active coping and reappraisal” leads to doing the hard inner work of evaluation, learning, changing, and growing.
 
How God Uses Suffering
God uses suffering to remove our weaknesses and build us up in primarily four ways:
Suffering transforms our attitude toward ourselves.
Humbles us
Removes unrealistic self-regard and pride
Reminds us of how fragile we are
Leads us to examine ourselves and see weaknesses, because it often brings out the worst in us.


 
Suffering will profoundly change our relationship to the good things in our lives.
Realize that some things have become too important to us (idols).
Often, the magnitude of our suffering is in direct proportion to the excessive weight we put on the things we have lost or are in jeopardy.
Suffering provides an opportunity to invest more of our hope and meaning in God and others.

 
Suffering can strengthen our relationship to God as nothing else can.
Lewis: “In prosperity God whispers to us, but in adversity he shouts to us.”
When times are good how do you know that you really love God and are trusting God?
Only suffering can reveal the impurities or falseness of our faith in God.
Suffering drives us to prayer.

 
Suffering is almost a prerequisite if we are going to be of much use to other people.
Adversity makes us much more compassionate than we would have been otherwise.
Having received comfort from God in our suffering, we are in a better place to minister God’s comfort to others who are suffering.  (2 Cor 1:3-7)

 
God’s Gymnasium
The Bible speaks of suffering using the metaphor of a gymnasium.
Heb 12: suffering is painful, but later on it produces righteousness and peace for those who are being trained (exercised) by it.
In the gym, our weaknesses are exposed for what they are, and then they are purposefully exercised to strengthen them.
In the gym, you feel you are getting weaker, but later on this results in strength and endurance.
 
In suffering, like in the gym, we need the right application of pressure and discomfort in order to be strengthened.
So, the suffering that God brings into our lives has a limit and has a purpose.
So, our response to suffering should not be to despise it or to faint under it; we should move forward through the exercises.
Our motivation and hope is to look to Jesus who also endured suffering on the way to glory.
 
Preparing the Mind for Suffering
Suffering will come, and we have a responsibility to walk through suffering in the right way for it to achieve its intended effects.
So, we need to prepare our minds for suffering before the suffering arrives.
The more deeply you know and grasp the Bible’s teachings before the adversity comes, the more comfort they will be.
A growing understanding of the Bible and a vital prayer life are the greatest preparation for affliction.
 
 
 
 
Preparing the Heart for Suffering
Suffering is not just an intellectual issue, but a personal problem. So, we must prepare the heart as well as the mind to properly walk through suffering.
Developing a consistent, vibrant, theologically deep, and relationally real prayer life is the best way to prepare the heart for suffering.
If our understanding and experience of God’s love are strong before the affliction comes, they can serve as anchors that keep us from being overwhelmed by the adversity.
 
When suffering first hits you, the gap between what you know with the mind and what you can use out of your store of knowledge in the heart can be surprisingly large.
When troubles come, you will need God’s help to find the particular insights, consoling thoughts, and wisdom you will need to get through.
Biblical truths previously known in the mind will have to be revisited in the heart and applied to the current real life experience.
 
It is one thing to have biblical truths stored in the warehouse of the mind. It is quite another to know how to apply them to your own heart, life, and experience in such a way that they produce wisdom, endurance, joy, self-knowledge, courage, and humility.
It is one thing to believe in God but it is quite another thing to trust
Walking through suffering requires not just knowing about God, but knowing God.
 

“A Prayer for the New Year”

“A Prayer for the New Year” (Colossians 1:9–14)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, January 1, 2017
 
Colossians 1:9-14, NIV
9  For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,  10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,  12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.  13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
      1.  The prayer’s pattern: purposeful and perpetual.
      2.  The prayer’s petition: knowledge of God’s moral will.
      3.  The prayer’s purpose: to live a life worthy of the Lord.
      4.  The prayer’s product:
                a.  Bearing fruit in every good work.
                b.  Growing in the knowledge of God.
                c.   Being strengthened with God’s power for endurance and perseverance.
                d.   Giving thanks to God for his gracious gift of salvation.

“Jesus, Made Human for Us”

“Jesus, Made Human for Us” (Hebrews 2:5–18)
Communion Message
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Christmas Sunday AM, December 25, 2016
 
Hebrews 2:15–18, NIV
     5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.  6 But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him?  7 You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor  8 and put everything under their feet." In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.  9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  
     10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.  11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.  12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises."  13 And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me."  
     14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil--  15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.  17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

“The Song of the Angels”

“The Song of the Angels” (Luke 2:8–20)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, December 18, 2016
 
Luke 2:1–20 (NIV)
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
 
 

Main Idea: The song of the angels is that Jesus Christ is the only way to peace with God.

Chapter 8: The Reason for Suffering

Walking with God through Pain & Suffering
by Tim Keller
 
Chapter 8: The Reason for Suffering
 
People and cultures long to bestow meaning on suffering and evil.
Suffering has been explained by the Christian faith more thoroughly than any other religion or worldview.
In Christianity, suffering is not meaningless.

God has a purpose in suffering and evil.
God is accomplishing his purposes through suffering, not in spite of it.
God will one day finally eliminate suffering and evil.
In the person of Jesus Christ, God has suffered himself and has purposed to overcome suffering and evil.
Whatever God’s purposes for suffering, they are motivated by love for his people.
Suffering is the means God chose to redeem us, and suffering is one of the main ways we become like him and experience his redemption.
Though suffering is painful, it is also filled with purpose and usefulness.

 
On Not Wasting Your Suffering
Modern Western culture devalues suffering and finds no usefulness in it.
Evidence suggests that people need adversity in order to reach higher levels of strength and maturity.
Three benefits to suffering seen in many individual experiences:
People who endure suffering become more resilient.
It strengthens relationships and opens the door for deeper friendships.
It changes priorities and philosophies.

 
 
 
People who have never suffered are likely to have naïve views about life’s meaning.
Trauma has a way of shattering belief systems and robs people of their sense of meaning. It forces people to put the pieces back together, and often they do so by turning to God or some other higher, unifying principle.
The Bible assumes that suffering creates resilience (Rom. 5:3-4), and that it draws us nearer to God as our refuge.
 
To Glorify God
We, as God’s image-bearers, exist to glorify God in all of life.
So, one purpose of suffering is to glorify God through it.
Many biblical passages link suffering with the glory of God.

This Christian teaching that we can glorify God through suffering does not fit with the popular “prosperity gospel.”
God is worthy of our praise and admiration, because it is the only adequate and fitting response to his infinite perfection.
 
God, by his very nature, is the most supremely beautiful and all-satisfying Object.
God commands us to glorify him because it is only be doing this that we will ever find the rest, satisfaction, and joy in him that we were made for.
In every action by which we treat him as glorious as he is, we are at once giving God his due and fulfilling our own design.
 
The God of Glory
Much of Christian faith and practice hinges on the glory of God.
The glory of God is the combined magnitude of all God’s attributes and qualities put together.
“His infinite beyondness”
God is beyond our comprehension, and this is perhaps one of the aspects of the biblical God that people dislike the most.
People want a God they can figure out and control.
 
The glory of God also means his supreme importance.
Hebrew word “kabod” – expresses God’s “weightiness” or significance.
If anything matters to you more than God, you are not acknowledging God’s glory. You are giving glory to something else.
The glory of God is also his absolute splendor and beauty.
 
Greek word “doxa” expresses “praise and wonder, brilliance, and beauty.”
Edwards: “God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced”
Glorifying God means obeying him not because we have to but because we want to—because we are drawn to his brilliance and beauty.
Glorifying God means to be delighted in him and to be satisfied in him.
 
No Graven Image
How, then, can we glorify God in our suffering—and how can suffering help us glorify God?
Many of us have “graven images” the idol of a God who always acts the way we think he should. We imagine a God who supports our plans, how we thought the world and history should go.
This is a God of our own creation, a counterfeit
Such a god is a projection of our own wisdom, of our own self.
 
When suffering comes, the demise of our plans shatters our false god. This enables us to be free to worship the True God.
Suffering introduces us to a God we cannot fully understand or control, who is infinitely perfect, wise, and glorious.
Suffering challenges us to leave behind our false images of God and embrace the True God who is incomprehensible and glorious.
When we trust God even when we don’t understand, we glorify him.
 
Glorifying God to Others
Trusting God in suffering also glorifies him to others.
When believers handle suffering rightly, we are showing the world something of the greatness of our God—and perhaps nothing else can reveal him to people in quite the same way.
In the early church, Christians used suffering to argue for the superiority of their faith because they endured suffering better than the unbelievers.
Peace, love, and forgiveness in the face of suffering is one of the greatest testimonies possible to the world of the reality of God, to his glory and his grace.
 
Glorifying God When No One Sees
Even when we think no one is watching how we go through suffering, God and the angels are watching and rejoicing in our spiritual growth through adversity.
How we endure suffering matters, because our existence is not just about this world that we can see or even just about the here and now. There is a spiritual world beyond our vision, and there is an eternity beyond this lifetime.
No suffering is for nothing.
 
Suffering and Glory
Though counterintuitive, suffering and glory are closely linked in the Scriptures.
Suffering glorifies God to the universe and eventually even achieves glory for us.
Philippians 2 – Jesus humbled himself and endured suffering on the path to glory. He did it in love for us to the glory of God.
Our suffering may be for the good of others, or to make us more like Christ, or simply to glorify God through our trust in him when we don’t
 

“Remarkable Revelations”

“Remarkable Revelations” (Genesis 45:1–28)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, December 11, 2016
 
Genesis 45:1–28 (NIV)
45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’
12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”
14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.
16 When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’
19 “You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. 20 Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.’”
21 So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. 22 To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. 23 And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!”
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
 
A Remarkable Revelation (1­–3).
 
A Remarkable Forgiveness (4–5).
 
A Remarkable Perspective (6–8).
 
A Remarkable Reconciliation (9–15).
 
A Remarkable Generosity (16–20).
 
A Remarkable Provision (21–24).
 
A Remarkable Revelation (25–28).
 
Main Idea: Reconciliation is the result of forgiveness, and forgiveness is made possible through a firm trust in the justice of God and his sovereignty over all the events of life.

“What Are We Singing About?”

“What Are We Singing About?” (Matthew 1:18–25; Luke 2:1–7)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, December 11, 2016
 
Matthew 1:18–25, NIV
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.  19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  20 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.  21 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."  22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23 "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").  24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
 
Luke 2:1–7, NIV
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  3 And everyone went to their own town to register.  4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 
 
We are singing about the miracle of the virgin birth, which was predicted by the prophet Isaiah centuries before its fulfillment.
 
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isa. 7:14, NIV)
 
We are singing about the miracle of God becoming man through the conception of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33 and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."  34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"  35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  (Lk. 1:31-35, NIV)
 
We are singing about the fulfillment of all of God’s promises and covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David as witnessed by the prophets.
 
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33 and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."  (Lk. 1:32-33, NIV)
 
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful  55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors."  (Lk. 1:54-55, NIV)
 
20 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. (Matt. 1:20, NIV)
 
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. (Lk. 2:4, NIV)
 
We are singing about the coming of Jesus into the world to be our savior and rescue us from the condemnation that our sins deserve.
 
"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.  21 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." (Matt. 1:20-21, NIV)
 
68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.  69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David  70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),  71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us--  72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,  73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:  74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear  75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.  76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,  77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,  78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven  79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."  80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.  (Lk. 1:68-80, NIV)
 
We are singing about the God of the Universe voluntarily humbling himself to become a servant and live in poverty, hardship, and sorrow for us.
 
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 
 
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;  7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross!  9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,  10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, NIV)