Paul's writing in Romans can be confusing. He uses words that are often unfamiliar, and he is describing religious attitudes that we've never encountered. So I wondered ... what kind of analogy might help us to better understand what Paul is saying? Maybe I could compare the church to a karate dojo, and illustrate how karate belts represented aspects of our knowledge and maturity with God. And that's what I'm doing this week.

Messages of the Orchard Church

What if Church were a Karate School?

There are a lot of "sin lists" in the Bible. You may know them as the "thou shalt not" scriptures. Many times, people will weaponize these lists to condemn others, to feel superior, and to win arguments. But in doing so, they mishandle that list from Romans Chapter 1 in a way that Paul clearly condemns in Romans Chapter 2. The ways we handle scripture is important. Today I want to help you see a couple of ways that prideful attitudes can cause well-meaning people to fumble the messages of God.

Lists of Sins (Handle with Care)

In the introductory paragraphs of Romans, Paul uses these first words to set a tone and thesis for the whole book … simply, it is the humble person who finds the truth and power of the Gospel.

Was Paul a Humble Guy?

A big benefit of being a Christian is that God frees us from the bondage of sin. Put another way, if we have a destructive behavior - even as destructive as an addiction - the power of God frees us. That's what God does. God frees us from the sin, but we have to flee from the sin. We have to want to walk away from those cancers.

Exercising Freedom

The word "wealth" is often understood to be an abundance of money and possessions - the storehouses of resources we idle for the future. Typically, the wealthier a person, the more stingy they become. So, what happens when one becomes a Christian? As we love more, our stinginess changes to generosity. But this generosity of wealth goes beyond just money, for love also unlocks two other treasures: our time and our mercy.

The Three Wealths

Where are you headed in life? Do you want to have a big family, or be famous, or more loving, or a better follower of Jesus? For most dreams to be successful, you will need to surround yourself with like-minded people who share a similar vision, and wish to support one another toward those goals. So, what changes when we become a Christian?

Friends, Co-workers, and Spouses

Marriage has been a part of societies since prehistoric times - it isn't unique to any particular religion or culture. And, generally speaking, marriage is viewed by most every one of these societies as a superior status in life over singleness. This attitude can also be felt in the churches. People who are single can be made to feel as if they aren't quite measuring up, or that there's something deficient. That shouldn't be, because Jesus specifically told us that the Kingdom of God has a special kind of relationship in it, and it isn't marriage. Everyone is a brother or a sister. That's it.

Singleness versus Marriage

There is an overwhelming amount of technology that surrounds us - every year it is more and more, with a pace that now seems to be doubling every few years. And, whenever some new tech or innovation is introduced, doesn't it seem that we just blindly adopt it, without considering if it could have a negative impact on our life? Just because we can add new tech and surround ourselves with so much of it ... should we?

Technology, Science and Medicine

The Bible describes a fairly simple phenomena of spiritual living that goes something like this: If you genuinely pour yourself into seeking God, you will find him. You will!

Midweek Reflection - Seek and Find

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "seek and you will find." His words are quite similar to what prophets and writers of the Old Testament said of God, llike from Jeremiah, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Even though God is all around us, God can seem quite hidden from us. I wonder if people experience a lack of God because they aren't really seeking God? Well, today's message is a story of a woman who sought after God with all hear heart, and she was the first one to see Jesus after his resurrection.

The First Evangelist - An Easter Story

Imagine that your life is focused on climbing a mountain. All your training, vision, partnerships, and effort are focused on this mountain. Maybe you've been climbing it for 20 years or 60 years. You are probably struggling to get to the top, because only a few get there. For those who struggle, how do you react when an expert mountain climber tells you he can help you get to the top of a mountain, but everything you learned is wrong? Also, you're climbing the wrong mountain.

Two Mountains

Who wants to have an addiction in their life? An addiction robs us of time, money, relationships, joy - for that quick hit, there is a lot of cost to one's life. With the word “addiction”, you may be thinking of things like alcohol, drugs, or the nicotine that is in vaping and cigarettes. Yet, there are other addictions that we overlook or minimize - we don't think they are serious because we just don't see their ugliness. These are things like over-shopping, pornography, hoarding, stress eating, or endless hours of TV, gaming, or social media. Spiritually, these are just as costly to our souls as crack, and just as deadly to our eternity as meth. Whether you struggle with alcohol or chocolate, there are some basic scriptures that describe your pathway to freedom.

Addiction

Everyone has fear from time to time. If temporary, fear can be a good emotion because it helps us get away from danger. But, a frequent pattern of fear can sometimes turn into what is called trepidation. Trepidation can result in sluggish movement in the directions of God - it can look like procrastination, or avoidance, or being lukewarm, or even substituting something else for the will of God. God is powerful. And as he accompanies us in life, he provides courage for us to unglue ourselves from the fear that keeps us stuck in old familiar patterns that pretend to be safe and comfortable, but can be harmful. God “un-fears” us, so that we can begin attaining a new, fresh, and better life.

Trepidation

Truth is important. Truth helps us to find directions for our lives that are healthy, and deceptions can point our lives into hazardous directions. Yet, every day we are overwhelmed with both truth and deception. How do we figure out which is which? Well, a wise approach is to not merely learn something, but to experience it. Jesus did not merely present us with truth, but he challenges us to put the teachings of the Gospel into practice to verify that they are viable and worthwhile.

Deception

Messages Given at The Orchard Church of Arlington, VA

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Messages of the Orchard Church

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