On January 5, 1975 Frank and Sylvia Manley were traveling along a broad highway in the state of Tasmania in Australia.  Darkness began to fall and fog blanketed the area.  But the highway was smooth and they were at ease assuming that the road that they were on would ultimately lead them to their desired destination. 

Their route brought them to the Derwent River.  A high bridge spanned it.  As they neared its apex, Sylvia sensed that something was wrong.  The street lights that lined the roadway as well as the white lines that bordered their lane all suddenly disappeared ahead.  She screamed in fear.  Frank stomped on the brakes and as their car skidded toward an abrupt stop, its front wheels suddenly dropped.  The frame of the car slammed to the roadbed finally arresting their forward progress.  The car seemed to teeter.  Its headlights shone into the swirling waters of the Derwent. 

The Manleys realized at that moment that several sections of the bridge were simply gone.  They carefully and quickly slid out of their car.  In the lane next to them a station wagon, driven by Murray Ling, came to a stop just before the brink; however, another vehicle behind them could not brake in time.  It bumped into the Lings’ vehicle pushing its front wheels over the edge too.  Ling, his wife, and their two small children escaped.

Not everyone was as fortunate.  The bridge collapse was caused by a wayward cargo ship that slammed into its supporting piers.  The falling spans hit the ship and sank it with the loss of seven crew members.  Four cars, unaware of the abyss that had opened, plunged over the precipice into the river below.  Five occupants of those vehicles died that night.

It’s a stark reminder that not every road leads home.  The way may be broad and easy, but the important thing is not our comfort; the essential thing is to get home.

Choose your route carefully.

If this is good advice for earthly routes, how much more so for those that lead to eternal destinies.  Jesus speaks directly to this priority in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Join us this Sunday at Istrouma as we take to heart these words of Jesus from our ongoing study of the Sermon on the Mount.

Culture Flip

“Doors, Directions, and Destinies”   

Matthew 7:13-14

1. Two doors

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide . . . that leads to destruction, and . . . the gate is narrow . . . that leads to life . . .” (From Matt. 7:13-14)

1. 1. There is a wide gate
   2. There is a narrow gate
2. Two directions

“Enter by the narrow gate. For . . . the way is easy that leads to destruction, and . . . the way is hard that leads to life . . .” (From Matt. 7:13-14).

1. 1. There is an easy way
   2. There is a hard way
2. Two destinies

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt. 7:13-14).

Mount Everest is the world’s tallest peak.  It is remote, rugged and foreboding.  Over three hundred climbers have died in pursuit of its peak and many of their bodies still lie frozen where they fell.  Given these facts, something quite surprising happened this summer.  There was a traffic jam on Everest!

Due to weather, typically only a few weeks in May are suitable for the ascent.  This year, bad conditions reduced that window of time to a few days.  For that reason, hundreds of climbers attempted the summit on the same day.  Because there is a single rope that lines the last leg of the journey, it became terribly congested and torturously slow.  In the so-called “death zone” of altitude, that is a recipe for disaster.  Eleven climbers died during this season’s window.

One of the saddest cases in Everest lore is that of a British climber named David Sharpe.  He was an experienced mountaineer.  He decided that he would try a solo summit without the aid of supplemental oxygen.  On his way down he stopped.  Not all of the reasons for his pause are known.  What is known is that 40 different climbers passed him on the trail.  Though they saw his distress, no one rendered aid.  All were too focused on their agenda. 

Oh, that at least one of the climbers would have known and applied the “Golden Rule” that Jesus gave us!  You know it: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Had someone done for David what they surely would have wanted someone else to have done for them, he likely would have lived to climb another day.

Commentator William Barclay long ago said that the Golden Rule is the “Mount Everest” of Jesus’ teachings.  It is needed both on the mountain top and in the valleys of life.  Join us this Sunday at Istrouma as we unpack its meaning and encourage one another to apply it to life.

Culture Flip

“The Golden Rule”   

Matthew 7:12

1. The roots of the Golden Rule

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets”(7:12a).

1. 1. Good God
   2. Good gifts
2. The requirementof the Golden Rule

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets”(7:12b).

1. 1. It is positive
   2. It is proactive
2. The reason for the Golden Rule

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them,for this is the Law and the Prophets”(7:12c).

Two weeks ago Hurricane Barry threatened South Louisiana with the potential for historic floods.  The waters in the Gulf of Mexico were unusually warm which typically energizes a storm.  The tropical storm was inching northward slowly which meant that any rains would likely be prolonged and drenching.  The Mississippi River was already above flood stage even before Barry’s landfall. 

Everything was set up for it to be another “perfect” storm that would devastate our area. 

But then something really unexpected occurred.  A “dry air mass” materialized and covered Louisiana.  It became a virtual storm wall that held Hurricane Barry’s torrential rains at bay.  The catastrophic floods predicted for our area never arrived. 

Meteorologists were left scratching their heads at this unusual phenomenon.  What happened? 

Let me offer an explanation: God’s people prayed and, in response, God stilled the storm (it wouldn’t be the first time).  In anticipation of the storm, one weatherman had tweeted, in effect, that our best hope was prayer—and he was right!

Someone might counter, “But didn’t God’s people pray in 2016 when the flood waters ravaged our area?”  Yes.  Of course we prayed back then too.  And God answered those prayers as well, though not, perhaps, as we expected or hoped.  Though he did not hold back the waters, he brought us through them—and he taught us through them!  Both experiences worked together for our good and his glory!

The important thing is that, by prayer, we fellowship with God.  By prayer we partner with him in the ushering in of his kingdom and are molded more into his image.

More than once in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus impresses on his disciples—upon us—the privilege and power of prayer!  This Sunday we’ll look at the “big a.s.k.” that he instructs us to make—ask, seek, knock.  Join us!

Culture Flip

“Ask”   

Matthew 7:7-11

1. An invitation to pray

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (7:7).

1. 1. Synonymous commands
   2. Sequential commands
2. An incentiveto pray

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (7:7-8).

1. 1. Guaranteed promise
   2. General principle
2. An illustrationof prayer

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!(7:9-11).

There is a Bible verse that our culture at-large loves!  Even folks that may not be committed to Jesus as Lord are likely to embrace it.  They may not know a lot of the Bible, but it’s likely that they’ll know this verse and can probably even quote it.

Intrigued? 

Here it is: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1).

Why, do you suppose, it’s such a favorite?  What about us, what about our culture, and what about that particular verse makes it so popular?

A clue might be found in the results of a survey that was recently conducted.  Young adults aged 18 to 40 in the US were asked, “What is the greatest virtue?”  You might expect the top answer to be love, or integrity, or humility.  But it was none of these.

The number one response was autonomy.  Autonomy says, “I will do whatever I want. Nobody can tell me what to do or what not to do.” 

Coming in as a close runner-up was tolerance.  Tolerance has traditionally said, “Let’s allow for differing opinions or permissible behaviors, even if we disagree.”  But now, that traditional definition has morphed to a new stance that says, “Not only must you allow for what I do in my autonomy, you must approve of it.”  If you don’t, let’s face it; you’re a hater.  You’re intolerant.  And, in our day, that just might be the worst sin of all! 

These two “virtues” have joined forces.  Together they have become a battering ram for behaviors and choices that, frankly, fly in the face of what God has designed and decreed. 

Yet this is where Matthew 7:1 comes in so handy.  If an action or an attitude is called into question, that particular Bible verse is often trotted out as a foolproof defense: “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Is that a legitimate use of those words of Jesus?  Are we not to “judge” anything, at any time, in any sense?  How are we to understand rightly and apply these words of Jesus?

We’ll try to answer those questions this coming Sunday morning at Istrouma.  By doing so, we’ll learn how to live better in community with one another under the loving Lordship of Jesus. 

If you can’t be with us in person, join us on Istrouma Baptist Church’s Facebook livestream or at www.istrouma.org.  Messages are also archived there and can be watched at any time.

 Culture Flip

“Jesus on Judgment”   

Matthew 7:1-6

1. A nuanced command

Judge not, that you be not judged(7:1).

1. 1. Jesus gives us an imperative
   2. Jesus gives us an incentive
2. A needed counsel

For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye (7:2-5).

1. 1. Be tender
   2. Be tough
2. A necessary caution

Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you(7:6).

 Put on Your Life Preserver   

Isaiah 43:1-2 and 21

1. We will suffer

“Whenyou pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; whenyou walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (43:2).

1. We will survive

“When you pass throughthe waters, I will be with you; and throughthe rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk throughfire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (43:2).

1. We will shine

“. . . the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise” (43:21).

Jeff Williams

Stop Worrying Start Living

Matthew 6:25-34

Worry means to be TORN in two

What does worry do to us?
    CONSUMES
    ISOLATES
    Makes us INEFFECTIVE

It’s not about the WHAT and the WHY...it’s about the WHO

Is Jesus enough?
Will He do it for me?

Isaiah 49:16
Romans 8:32

Philippians 4:6

Live today. Don’t live in regret of past or fear of the future

Long ago Egypt was a world power.  The rulers of that ancient land had immense wealth.  At their deaths, every effort was made to take their possessions with them into eternity.  Huge pyramids and mausoleums were built and stocked with riches and supplies.

But as the centuries slipped by, grave robbers desecrated these sites.  Some 60 years before the time of Christ, a Greek author named Diodorus Siculus visited the tombs of the Valley of the Kings [slide].  He wrote, “We found nothing there except the results of pillage and destruction.”  The pharaohs had not taken their riches with them; thieves had broken in and stolen their treasures.

It was then a tremendous surprise when, in 1922, an expedition uncovered the long-lost tomb of a boy ruler—King Tut [slide].  For some 3,000 years his resting place was undisturbed.  What did the archeologists discover upon entry?  In actuality, Tut had taken nothing with him into eternity.  Everything was still there—oils, perfumes, toys from his childhood, precious jewelry, statues of gold and ivory—thousands of items.  In all, the appraisal of the treasures of his tomb are at three-quarters of a billion dollars.  His solid-gold coffin alone is estimated to be worth $13 million!

One stark lesson we can learn from the pyramids is that you can’t take your treasures with you.  Yet, Jesus makes it clear that, while we can’t take our treasures with us, we can send them on ahead!  He said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

This will be our focus on Sunday at Istrouma as we continue learning from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Join us!

Culture Flip

“Treasure Your Treasure”

Matthew 6:19-24

1. You need a safe location

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rustdestroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also(6:19-21).

1. 1. You can have treasures on earth
   2. You can have treasures in eternity
2. You need a security light

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness(6:22-23).

1. 1. Adopt a singular focus
   2. Avoid a split focus
2. You need a supreme loyalty

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money(6:24).

One of the greatest atrocities of World War II occurred in the Russian metropolis of Leningrad.  The Nazi army besieged the massive city cutting off supply routes.  “Leningrad must die of starvation,” Hitler declared in a speech at Munich on November 8, 1941.  Estimates are that more than 1.5 million people starved to death across the 900 days of the siege for lack of adequate food.

One group of Russians who starved was particularly noteworthy.  They were botanists and scientists who worked in a seed bank called the “Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry.”  They barricaded themselves in the vaults of that facility with rooms full of rice, corn, oates, and potatoes.  They did so to protect the “seeds” from the hungry citizens and marauding Germans.  They had the food resources to live at their fingertips but died of starvation.

I suppose you would class it a heroic tragedy.  It was heroic that they died to preserve seeds for a better day; but it was tragic that they died unnecessarily.  They had untapped resources within reach. 

Could it be that we have all the resources that we need within reach, yet suffer for lack of them?  Absolutely!  Prayer is such a resource!  It puts heaven’s supplies at our disposal but so often we do not take advantage of them.  We do not pray as we ought!  Someone has rightly said, “Nothing is outside the reach of prayer except that which is outside the will of God.”

Jesus wants us to avail ourselves of heaven’s supplies.  God forbid that we fail to have what is needed because we have failed to pray.  What a tragedy that would be! 

This Sunday morning we will look at a “primer on prayer” as Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 6:5-15.  Join us at Istrouma!

Culture Flip

“A Primer on Prayer”

Matthew 6:5-15

1. Jesus challenges our motivations
2. 1. By alluding to our duty
   2. By alluding to our devotion
   1. By eliminating pagan thinking
   2. By embracing proper theology
3. Jesus corrects our mindset
   1. By emphasizing the recipient
   2. By enumerating the requests
4. Jesus communicates a model

In August of 2013, a zoo in China temporarily closed because of an unusual complaint. Visitors discovered that the zoo's “lion” was, in reality, a dog posing as a lion. According to a report in a Beijing newspaper, the fraud came to light when a mother and her young son visited the zoo and the animal, labeled as an "African lion," starting barking.

Zoo keepers later admitted that the so-called lion was actually a Tibetan mastiff, which is a large dog with a furry, brown coat. The outraged mother said, “The zoo is absolutely cheating us . . . I paid good money for the tickets and I feel defrauded.”

The people were disappointed.  They were swindled because things were not as advertised.

It is disappointing when things are not as they appear.  That kind of discrepancy can raise its ugly head in our lives and in the church.  There’s a name for that.  Hypocrisy.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus calls for a halt to the hypocrisy.  No more play-acting. 

This will be our theme this weekend as we dive into Matthew 6:1-18.  Join us Sunday at Istrouma!

Baseball is a game of statistics.  Baseball fans love them.  They chart everything—batting percentage, home runs, strike outs, and the list goes on. 

From this mountain of statistics, we learn that certain achievements are rare.  For example, it is rare when a team executes a triple play (718).  It is rare when a batter hits for the cycle in a game (325).  Those feats are roundly celebrated.  But among the rarest of achievements in America’s pastime is when a pitcher throws a “perfect game.”   This is when a pitcher is able to get every batter out in a nine-inning game.  He faces 27 batters and sits them all down with no hits, no walks, and no errors. 

Baseball has been played professionally for about 145 seasons.  There have been over 217,000 games contested.  Of those, only 23 have been “perfect.”  If my calculations are correct, that is 0.0001 percent of the time. 

“Perfection” in baseball is rare.  Perfection in life is rarer still.  Of the billions of people who’ve lived on earth, only one has been perfect. 

The amazing thing is that the Perfect One—the Lord Jesus—sees all our errors and loves us still.  He is willing to go to the record books and blot out our errors and credit his stats to us.  Now that is something to celebrate!

Join us Sunday at Istrouma to do just that as we continue our walk through the Sermon on the Mount!

Culture Flip

“Perfect”

Matthew 5:33-48

1. Jesus insistson perfection
   1. He gives us a command
   2. He gives us a comparison
2. Jesus illustratesperfection
   1. In our communications
   2. In our conflicts
   3. In our compassion
3. Jesus isperfection
   1. He incarnates it
   2. He imputes it