Easter Sunrise Service 2024

These days, the onset of arthritis in my left hand makes playing guitar extremely painful. I had intended that this Easter service would use recorded music instead, opening with “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!”, a contemporary rendition from Hillsong; a hymn written by the Anglican bishop Reginald Heber (1783–1826), followed by Michael W. Smith’s live renditions of “Above All” and “Open the Eyes of my Heart”, my chosen opening song for many years now. I had purchased the music, created a playlist, and tested it. Little did I realize that, while the playlist had downloaded to my phone, the songs were stuck in the cloud and there’s no internet service this far in the East-End. I grabbed my iPad from the Jeep and played Lincoln Brewster’s rendition of “Shout to the Lord”

I opened with some administrative stuff, like revealing that I had just had a birthday (applause), and that I was now 75 years old (gasps – more applause). Also encouraged people to visit this ministry website.

The message for this day is about the Trinity, the three personalities of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – here is the message.

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Let me tell you about a recent event that speaks to the message I want to bring you today. Someone who I am trying to reach out to as a friend, posted a meme on Facebook that took me by surprise. The meme was an old photo of slaves working the cotton fields of the old south, with the caption

“if your holy book tells you how to treat your slaves, your holy book is disqualified as a source for moral code”.

Let me read that to you again:

I was horribly offended that someone I was investing in could be so ignorant. I had to reply and wrote “The concept of slavery in biblical times was different from the modern understanding of slavery and was often associated with servitude or indentured labor.”

I should have realized that there would be repercussions and, sure enough, evil exposed itself. My friend responded in expressing the beliefs that have been accepted from today’s secular society.

If you are interested in knowing more, I posted about it on the ministry website, HopeHouse.vi, but my point in bringing this today is the increasing appearance of atheism in today’s society – but it’s hidden behind names to describe belief systems like “spiritual”, “free thinker”, “humanist”; but believe me, these are all anti-God beliefs.

A study in 2020 out of Cambridge University identified that 39% of non-believers use these descriptions of their belief systems rather than atheist, because they want to appear godly, but not with the God of the Bible.

Certainly, the Bible does speak of the behavior of slaves as in Ephesians 6:5 “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ,” but it continues “not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

But the Bible also speaks of the behavior of the master as in:

Colossians 4:1 “Masters, grant your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”

Is the Bible a good source of moral code? Of course it is. If it’s not, then what is? What do atheists have for their moral code?

In the Old Testament, we read that Moses went up a mountain and received God’s commandments for how the Israelites were to live their lives – the first documentation of a “moral code”, written in stone; but when he came back down, he found his people behaving in immoral ways, so he smashed the stone tablets.

The Israelites rejected the Ten Commandments multiple times. The Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, and Exodus 34. The first two lists (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) are virtually identical, with a few differences in wording and order. Exodus 34, however, seems to be a completely different (and less familiar) set of commandments that I cannot explain, and this is not about exegesis. They could not accept the idea of being “moral” people. And it’s no different today. People are unwilling to accept being “told” how to behave – but in some ways I can understand, because laws given around 1200 BC, are contextualized to that time, over 3000 years ago. But these are the laws from God, the Father personality.

So, let’s bring it to more recent times, just 2000 years ago.

Jesus, the human personality of God, told a young man who was asking how to gain eternal life and Jesus told him six commandments, and the account is given in Mathew, Mark and Luke. They are:

• You shall not murder (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
• You shall not commit adultery (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
• You shall not steal (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
• You shall not bear false witness (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
• Do not defraud (Mark only)
• Honor your father and mother (Matthew, Mark, Luke)

All of these seem to make sense in terms of a code of ethics – why is it so difficult?

Let me tell you a secret. Well, it’s not really a secret, it’s just not spoken about enough. The ten commandments listed in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 can be grouped into two groups: How we are to love God our Father, and how we are to love our fellow man. Four of them speak to our relationship with God, and six, the six that Jesus spoke of, are how we are to treat our fellow man.  And if I were to say to you “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, then these six also speak of how to expect your fellow man to likewise treat you.

(John ad-libbed about the “Sabbath day’s journey” in Jewish tradition, which limited the distance a person could travel on the Sabbath. To extend this distance, some Pharisees were said to have moved their furniture outside their homes before the Sabbath began, so technically their homes would be considered their “new starting point” for the Sabbath day’s journey. This practice was criticized by some as a legalistic way to circumvent the Sabbath restrictions.)

In the book of Matthew (22:36-40), we read of an incident where a Pharisee asked Jesus ^“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” He was speaking of the whole law being the Mosaic laws, the Levitical laws, and the Pharisaical laws.

Are you seeing a pattern here – Love God, Love neighbor; and let’s make sure of the understanding that neighbor is your fellow man, not someone who lives next door. “But pastor, you don’t know my neighbor”. (that joke did not resonate)

Do you think that this is a good framework for a moral code? I do.

So, I have told you of the “hard to abide by” rules that were given to us by our heavenly Father, and the easier to understand rules given to us by Jesus, God in human form – but still we object.

In the book of John, we find Jesus telling his disciples that he is sending a helper “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me.”

Jesus is sending His Helper, the Holy Spirit. The third personality of God.

The book of Revelation speaks of the “seven spirits of God” and in Christian theology these are interpreted as:

1. The Spirit of the Lord: Representing the authority and sovereignty of God.
2. The Spirit of Wisdom: Signifying divine wisdom and understanding.
3. The Spirit of Understanding: Reflecting insight and discernment.
4. The Spirit of Counsel: Representing guidance and direction.
5. The Spirit of Might: Symbolizing strength and power.
6. The Spirit of Knowledge: Signifying divine knowledge and revelation.
7. The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord: Reflecting reverence and awe towards God.

These interpretations are based on different passages in the Bible that mention the seven spirits, such as Isaiah 11:2-3 and Revelation 1:4. The seven spirits are seen as aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work and presence in the world. The Holy Spirit’s work in you.

If you ask Jesus into your heart, He will send His Helper to live in you. I know this from personal experience.

(John went into an off-script message about his own coming to Christ that he might add here later)

In regards to my friend’s meme’s statement “Your holy book is disqualified as a source of moral code” I give you:-

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.

1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Romans 10:9 ^“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”

This is what I ask you to do; not to me, I am not a confessor – do it privately (Matthew 6:6). Do as I did – confess with your mouth and believe in your heart – and you will be saved.

(John closed with the Lord’s Prayer from KJV: Matthew 6:9-13.)