#5 They gave out of uncertainty

series: Cultivate the Romance

title: They gave our of uncertainty

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: January 31, 2016

scriptures: Luke 24:13-32, Nehemiah 10:35, Acts 20, James 4:17, Romans 11:16, Numbers 15:17-20, 1 Kings 17, Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Leviticus 23:11, 1 Corinthians 15:20-21, John 12:32, Luke 23:46, Psalm 31:5, Matthew 27:28, 

The Root

Paul says, “if the root is holy, so are the branches.”

The principle of the first fruit originated with the Hebrew wordBikkurim. When you read in Nehemiah when he says “we obligate ourselves to bring the first fruit…”  or anywhere in the old testament when it says “bring the first fruit,” the word is bikkirum.

Bring the bikkirum.

The bikkurim is the part of the harvest that ripened and came forth before the rest of the harvest did.

The part that ripened and came forth first… God said, that part is mine! and this is an absolutely fascinating fact about Jewish history.

What they would do in those days, is the farmer would notice that a branch would have the bikkurim on it, and he already knew the principle of the first fruit, he already knew “this part is for God” so what would happen is he would take a little scarlet ribbon and he would walk up to the branch that had the fruit on it, and he would tie this scarlet ribbon on the branch as to say “THIS IS FOR THE LORD.”

He was marking it. He was setting it apart. He was saying, “God we give you the first.” He was asking the Lord to bless it. That is why we gave you the little red ribbons this week when you walked in… You can keep it as a token to remember, or you can take it and wrap your offering or offering envelope in it if you are giving a physical offering.

But the bikkirum was the first. It wasn’t just any piece of fruit… a good batch or a bad batch. It was was came first.

it had to be the first! It was the part that came before the harvest…

The farmer didn’t know whether the harvest was going to be large or if much of the fruit would not survive. All he knew for sure was that he the bikkurim. The only certainty was the bikkurim.

He didn’t give out of poverty or out of lack, he gave out of not knowing what it would be,

he gave it out of uncertainty. 

He gave the only thing that was certain, out of uncertainty. 

#7 False Witnesses

Series: Realities

Title: False Witnesses

Date: November 1, 2015

Teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Matthew 12:33-37, Proverbs 18:21, James 3:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19, Proverbs 26:17-26, Romans 10:13-14, Matthew 27:46, James 4:6, John 3:16

“The things said in confidence, spread in confidence.”

False witness is the Hebrew word שָֽׁקֶר׃ šā·qěr (shek air) – and it means “a lie, or a breach of faith.”

It is so much more than just a lie. It is so much more than making something up. It is also an abuse of information. It is not being trustworthy. It is not controlling your tongue. It is lying, and it is gossip. And it destroys communities and it destroys churches, and it destroys trust faster than anything else I have ever seen.

It is the 9th commandment, and the Hebrew letter that represents nine is the letter “Tet” and the word picture for “Tet” is a picture of a snake. Now think about this. What does a snake represent? You can take this one all the way back to the fall of man… How does the serpent manage to get man to fall?

He bears false witness against God.

He convinces Eve, “yes, God said that, but that is not true. That is God’s paranoia that you are only one step behind him and if you eat of the fruit your eyes will be opened. If you eat of it, you will level the playing field.”

He lied about God. He made Eve think that God has an insecurity issue. He painted a picture that was not true, and she bought into that picture.

From the beginning of time entire worlds were being destroyed by the stupid words that are said. It is the devils only weapon, but unfortunately, for a lot of us, it is the only weapon he needs. So that is why we are taking an entire message to talk about it. Because words shape people.

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#10 Self Control

Date: September 6, 2015
Series: The Fruit of the Spirit
Title: Self Control
Teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Proverbs 25:28, 1 Corinthians 9:25, Joshua 6, Nehemiah 1:4, John 14:26, Hebrew 4:14, Romans 7:19, 1 Peter 5:8, Nehemiah 2:17, Proverbs 16:32, Luke 4:1-15, 1 Kings 3:1-15, John 1:1, John 1:4, Luke 23:34, Luke 23:37, Psalm 91:11-12, Luke 3:21-22, John 14:16, 2 Corinthians 3:17

Self Control, or as the King James version calls it, temperance, is the Greek word egkrateia and it means “The Virtue of One who masters his desires and passions” – It is the word “krat” which means lordship, combined with the word “ego,” meaning “self.” It essentially means that you have “Lordship over your self”

Perhaps a better, more applicable way to say it is like this, that your “self” does not have lordship over you.

You are not controlled by the quick impulses, the fleshly desires, or even the first instincts.

Jesus had to demonstrate incredible self control when he was being tempted by the Devil, and he is our ultimate example of “Self Control” as well as every other fruit.

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#8 Faithfulness

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit
Title: Faithfulness
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Date: August 23, 2015

scriptures: 2 Timothy 2:13, Genesis 15:6, Exodus 17, Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, James 2:26, 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, John 13, 1 Peter 2:2-5, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:44, John 12:27, Galatians 5, John 18, Hebrews 13:8

Faithfulness, as Paul uses it in Galatians 5 when listing the Fruit of the Spirit, is the Greek word pistis and it means “The character of one who can be relied on.”

The hack on the “Ashley Madison” website that was released this week was a pile of evidence (30 million users of evidence) as to how much our society does not value faithfulness. How much we lack pistis.  The thing that bothered me so so much, and still does, about this website and the fact that it had so many users, is this: we have grown so incredibly numb to what a covenant even means in our society, that we have millions of people literally getting on a website and strategically looking for ways to break their promise to the person who is supposed to be their closest and most valued friend in all the world, and that is literally beyond my comprehension. The fact that this sight even existed, much less gained that much traction, is absolutely devastating to me.

But one thing that we have to remember in this extreme example of where we are as a society, is that we, as Christians, are citizens of a different kingdom… and we have been trusted with the gospel… the joy news that the war is over, that a new kingdom has been established, and that everyone is invited.

What that means for the Ashley Madison hack is this: There are a LOT of hurting people right now, who need the church to be FAITHFUL to them. The reality is, that sin has a cost, and the reality is, that what is done in darkness ALWAYS eventually comes to the light… and that day has come for everyone who was a registered user of that website.

But it is crucial, now, that the church responds by demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit toward the individuals caught in the act of adultery.

We talked during the “Goodness” message, about the woman caught in the act of adultery… and how Jesus petitioned on behalf of those who were guilty. I really believe that the Holy Spirit dropped that little thought on me last week (maybe to prepare my heart for how to respond this week to this news) about what Jesus was writing in the sand. That if he wanted us to know what he was writing…. If Jesus wanted us to know what the Pharisees had to see to cause them to walk away, he would have made sure it was written in the account.

But what if the reason he left it open, was so that we could apply it to our lives? What would you need to see written in the sand, that would make you lay down your stones and walk away… that would make you realize, “I am just as guilty?”

The Ashley Madison website is a reminder to how much our society does not value faithfulness. And the hack release is all the more evidence that what we do in secret will always be brought to the light sooner or later.

But it also needs to be a reminder to the Christian community that in a world that lacks faithfulness, it needs some people who still have it. Peoples marriages are in trouble because of this (obviously, they were in trouble before they got caught) but there is something different that is happening now. Their darkest decisions are now completely in the light.

People who made big mistakes are going to need people who will stand by them, not because what they did was okay, because it is not… But because at the end of the day, we are all just as guilty.

Remember, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was Faithful to his friends even though they were not faithful to him. Even though they couldn’t stay awake for one hour, even though he knew that Peter would deny him three times the following day… When the guards came for Jesus, he said (John 18:8) “If you seek me, let these men go.” – He said to the guards, “You can’t take my friends… do what you will with me.” Even in his darkest hour, Jesus’ faithfulness shined so bright. He drank the whole cup of wrath for the price of our sin. All the dregs and seeds and backwash. All the adultery and failed marriages and abortions and lies. All the unfaithfulness. All the works of the flesh that we are all guilty of, sometimes on a daily basis.

Let today be an opportunity for us to be more faithful than we ever have been before.

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#6 Kindness

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit
Title: Kindness
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Date: August 9, 2015

scriptures: Luke 10:25-37, Hebrews 10:24, Isaiah 32:8, Matthew 5:42, Romans 7:10, Matthew 7:22, 1 Chronicles 23:28-32, John 11:1-44, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 15:32, Ephesians 4:32, Romans 2:4, Romans 5:1

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