Him I Proclaim To You

5-10-26

Hoonah-Hadley

Acts 17:22-31

Call to Worship Psalm 66:7-18

Daily Verse Acts 17:23

Him I Proclaim To You

“For as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.” In a sense we pick up where Alex left off on April 26th. He began the service with prayer and a couple songs, “I’m doing kingdom things” and “I have a song to sing”, with the title of his message, “So, Go To Work”. Alex covers a lot of ground taking us from Acts chapter 4 through chapter 16, as always, we recommend you go to our website at www.soldiersofsalvation.org and listen in for a second time to pickup what you may have missed the first time, as they say, words to live by. The songs and his title are not just for Sunday April 26, they are daily reminders of our call, of God’s plan for our lives. A few things I notice when sitting in a pew and listening to a good sermon, #1 there is an edge to it, It is determined, has direction, authority, purpose, it stirs God’s elect, it is accurate, timely and driven. It is built on a solid foundation, the chief cornerstone, God’s word, Jesus Christ, it is living and active. This is a short list, but one other thing that seems to be obvious about sermons, they are personal. The God we proclaim today sent His Son to teach us, cleanse us, fill us, transform us, save us, forgive us and send us. That Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was crucified, buried and raised on the 3rd day, He defeated death and darkness, showed Himself to many for 40 days and was taken up in a cloud. On April 26th He showed Himself to us, today He shows Himself to us, it’s personal.

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I have some friends who lost a daughter at 27-28 years old, I keep her funeral card handy in my study as a reminder of what we are up against, she died 2 days after her birthday on July 13th, 2017. I live a mile from the local cemetery and post office. I often walk to the post office and come back through the cemetery, wandering around, looking at the headstones, reading names and dates. A retired couple, live just down the road lost their high school daughter years ago to a drunk driver, she shared the same birth date with me, same day, different year. I’ll never forget the night, the accident happened less than a half mile from my front door. A couple years later, same kid, drinking again, a couple miles west from here, almost identical accident, killed another kid. I coached a kid in little league baseball years ago, smart, athletic, one of few all-stars I had, grandfather was what the world might consider a successful businessman, his father made a lot of money, both were alcoholics. The kid went off to college, got drunk one night, drove the wrong way down the interstate hitting a couple head on killing the wife, they were newlyweds. Standing here at my study, lamp on an old wooden antique Winchester ammo box, lap top sitting on an old wooden pop bottle box from Youngstown Ohio, the shelf before me full of books, among others, Spurgeon, Chambers, Tozer, Matthew Henry and Bonhoeffer, all reminders of those that have gone on before us who have given their lives for the cause of Christ. Eric Metaxas “Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy”, over 500 pages, a true account of a man who gave his life in a prison camp at the end of WWII at the hands of an evil regime. I just finished “Fearless”, another true account of one of the Navy Seal Team Six members who served our country in the middle east against the same evil that has prowled around since that wily devil in the garden in the beginning.

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We can go on and on with examples of darkness within and darkness without, it’s a battle, a lifelong battle. Is it personal? That’s our hope for the message Sunday April 26th, for the sermon today and for every step, every breath you take hereafter. There is a spiritual battle taking place in the world, in each of our lives, good and evil, light and darkness, not one of us is immune from it, it’s a fight, a good fight, the victory has already been wrought on yon Calvary hill. It’s a call that came thousands of years ago when Jesus Christ spoke for 40 days “of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3) Listen in to the red letters in 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Don’t think you’re exempt from evil and don’t wait for it to consume your child, grandchild or neighbor’s daughter to make it personal. Take up your cross today, receive the power of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate sent from Christ to you, that you might obtain God’s promises for your life, for the lives of your children and your children’s children. Each of us has a song to sing, kingdom things to do, a cross to bear, an Advocate and power to proclaim it. This is a business meeting, it’s personal, don’t you know we have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14) Of course we have, we have no other time. Acts 17:16 “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.” Patrick Henry’s spirit was provoked within him, St. John’s Church March 23, 1775 “…I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve…Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country and an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven…”

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“Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destines of nations Who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. Why stand we here idle?” Isaiah 1:4,16,17 “Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evil doers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward…Put away the evil of your doings…Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” We don’t have to go to Afghanistan to find evil, but we do. Men and women give their lives for freedoms sake. The defense of that freedom began thousands of years ago with Jesus Christ. John 8:36 “Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Abraham Lincoln November 19th, 1863 from the Gettysburg Address, “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion-that we highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…shall not perish from the earth.” Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.” The Apostle Paul was “provoked when he saw that the city was given over to idols.” He was troubled, distressed, grieved. When you look around you does the lost condition of people distress you? Maybe we should pray and ask the Lord to break our hearts for the lost. Paul preached in the church, the marketplace, the Areopagus among the intellectuals, there were idols everywhere. Are we grieved for the lost? Are we doing kingdom things? “Therefore, the one you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.” We have a song to sing, a God to proclaim, be provoked, be a proclaimer. Amen!